Stolen
by Tribbith
Summary: A/U: If they can pull off Rachel Berry's kidnap, the ransom will get them out of Lima forever. The only problem? Finn's too good to be a criminal, and he's falling hard for his hostage.
1. Chapter 1

**And here begins my new A/U Finchel fic. The rating is a tentative T for now, but at the rate it's going, it may well soon become an M; reviews would be welcomed home with a grateful hug. **

**As for pairings, the main focus is on Finchel, though there are elements of Brittana and Quick too. I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Dashboard Confessional's 'Stolen', and there's violence from the onset. **

_We watch the season pull up its own stakes  
>And catch the last weekend of the last week<em>

Finn never learns, he's come to terms with that, but it still lands him in the worst kinds of trouble, and no matter how many times he's been here before, the sound of Puck's knuckles smashing into someone's nose makes him tingle with sickness and disgust.

Growl punch punch spit punch drawback punch again final spit; the dude has a rhythm he always uses, and Finn knows when to look away; when Puck spits for a second time on the ground, it means it's over.

He does that now, when his best friend hawks on the guy's shoes and rubs his knuckles absentmindedly on his pants. Finn never learns, and he should know by now that agreeing to be Noah Puckerman's wingman never turns out to be a good thing.

Except the result, 'cause the result is the only reason they do this shit; money. He wishes it wasn't the way things worked, but the whole world wants money, and not a penniless loser who can't even support his own family.

"So," Puck says through gritted teeth, and Finn readies himself for the information, "are you gonna tell us where Redmond is yet?"

The guy's face is a fucking bloody mess. His nose is broken in several places and his eyes are swollen and Finn can count at least three teeth on the floor, fallen from split lips. He feels sorry for him, he does, because they're all in the same boat; they all want to survive.

The man rattles out an address, and their job is done. Even if Finn hates these tasks, he's grateful that it ends at the beatings because he's in too deep as it is. No, now that they have what they're looking for, they pass it onto Rutherford, who relays the info along the line. Finn's never really sure what they're actually doing (he has no clue who Redmond is, or the guy that Puck's just kicked the crap out of), but if he's learnt one thing, it's that you don't ask questions _ever_; they get paid for their 'services', and it means food on the table and a roof over their heads.

"Good." Puck grabs Finn by the elbow and drags him out, 'cause he knows what to expect now, they've done it enough times. No matter what kind of dirty business they're into, Finn hates seeing people getting hurt, and the urge to help the victim burns in his body like he's some kind of big shot leader. No one deserves so much pain, do they? Puck tells him that these people are scum, but as far as he can see it, that makes the two of them so much worse, doesn't it?

"You got my cell?" asks Puck when they're in his truck, and Finn hands it over. He's grateful that he has a friend like Puck. Sure, he gets him into deep shit sometimes, but that's what brothers do, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

He knows the guy with the mohawk could handle these situations on his own, 'cause literally, Finn contributes nothing, and simply stands and watches while Puck gets the job done.

Without fail though, Puck includes him on every 'mission' just so Finn can get a share of the payment, and he owes him his life for that.

"S'up Rutherford, how are things?"

Finn preoccupies himself by driving. Puck cusses him out for going so slow, but old habits die hard, and after once hitting a mailman, he's extra careful just in case (it seems almost laughable after the mess they left that guy in, but he doesn't linger on those kind of thoughts).

"Yeah, course we cracked him, what do you take us for? Puckerman and Hudson always get the job done."

He grins at Finn, and Finn grins back, and in these rare moments, it reminds him of how things used to be, when they were carefree kids digging up worms and building forts and being _innocent_ (well, mostly innocent; they stole a few cookies when they could get away with it).

"Yeah, sure, I'll text you the address, and then you can drop off the payment in the usual place. See you Matt." He hangs up, and Finn taps anxiously on the wheel, a disembodied rhythm that matches the irregularity of his heartbeat.

"Everything okay?"

"Yup, everything's a-okay." Puck turns up the radio, and the two of them screech along to some Journey, wishing they could believe Steve Perry when he tells them to hold onto that feeling.

What feeling; complete and utter fear, or the knowledge that they're both failures?

The song changes, and Finn focuses on the road.

**Glee!**

It's gone midnight when he makes it home, and with a bundle of notes in his jacket pocket, he feels that rare euphoria that follows a job. His mom's past the point where she questions his source of income, 'cause she's learnt that Finn's never going to let up, and she knows how difficult it is to get through the month with barely enough money (she works at the local Pick N Save, but her wages only just cover the rent these days).

He sneaks into the kitchen and finds a cold plate of leftover meat and veg (he's pretty sure it's about four days old now; his mom really knows how to use every bit of food they have), and so he sticks it in the dysfunctional microwave that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.

Tonight it does, thank God, and he scarfs the lot as quickly as he can and washes it down with water. He doesn't bother going to bed, 'cause after nights like these, the image of the victim burns into his eyes and brain and skin and everything everything everything, and no matter how hard he tries to sleep, no matter how many sheep he counts and recounts and counts again for good measure, he can't shut off, so he has to stay awake, waiting until the sun comes up before he goes looking for decent, honest, _good_ work.

He grabs his old football from a pile in his room, and with nothing better to do, Finn throws it in the air, over and over again, and before he knows it, seven hours have passed, and he can hear his mom shuffling around in the kitchen. He needs to give her the money so she doesn't spend all day worrying, but he doesn't have the balls to face her, so he sits and stares at the ceiling, pretending that he can see the clouds, and pretending that there are shapes that change as the wind blows them around in the sky.

At eight o'clock his mom leaves, and he feels an uncomfortable tug on his stomach. They need to talk about what they're going to do, about the house and the lack of money, but he likes to think that if he ignores it, it'll go away on its own, and that'll be that (if only it were that easy).

He doesn't want to move. Even if they have little in the way of possessions (sold for as much money as they could make, which wasn't a lot), this is the house where they all lived as a family, his mom, his dad, and him, a baby. His dad died shortly after, but once they leave the dilapidated place, that presence will be gone, and Finn'll never be able to get it back.

He absentmindedly wipes away the tears that fall, and takes to doing exercises for the rest of the morning.

**Glee!**

Finn gets a call at 2am, and he knows it's not going to be a good thing.

"Hello?" he says sleepily, roughly, and he can tell it's Puck by the way the guy's breathing (he's extra loud when he's nervous).

"_Finn, I've got us a job."_

"Another one, at this time in the morning?"

"_No no, it's different, it's... it's big league. Can you come over?"_

He doesn't think he has much choice, but big league means big bucks, so he pulls on some pants, climbs out of his window and jumps in his truck, taking the short trip to the Puckerman house, which is even shittier than his place. He knows that Puck's getting desperate too, and with an extra mouth to feed in the form of his younger sister, he knows how the dude feels. In Lima, you're either dangerously poor or eye wateringly rich, and there never seems to be a compromise.

Puck jumps into the truck with a wide grin on his face, but it's not a happy smile, Finn can see that; it's a desperate one, and it means that he's not gonna like what's coming, but they have to do it nonetheless.

"This is our shot, Finn, this is _it!_ No more beating up losers for a couple of dollars; this is the big time."

"What is it?"

"Kidnap."

"Oh."

"Yeah, that's what I said too, but, God, Hudson, you've no idea how much we'd be getting for this shit."

"How much?"

"We'll talk specifics later. I need to know if you're in or out."

"Who is it?"

"Huh?"

"Who do we have to kidnap?"

"Some stuck up rich chick."

"Oh."

"Yeah, that's what I said too, but we have to do this."

And Finn knows they do. Once upon a time, he had a conscience that stopped him from hurting animals and stopped him from robbing old ladies and stopped him from being disloyal to his friends. Now? Now, well, he still has that very same conscience, but it does little to stop him. With every job he takes part in, he watches in silence, knowing all too well that what they're doing is wrong, but it's not about right or wrong anymore, and that's the difference.

Kidnap though, that's pretty extreme, and that means he's going to be away for a while.

"What about our moms?"

"Already taken care of it. Rutherford and Chang are gonna keep an eye on them, give 'em food and part of what we're earning, and they'll be okay." His voices breaks, and there's an unspoken connection because neither of them want to leave their families behind. "We have to do this. If we do, we might have a shot of getting out of here, Finn, and we have to get out of here; I can't be a Lima loser for the rest of my life."

"Okay, I'm in."

Puck wraps him in an awkward, impromptu hug, and Finn returns it, trying to swallow his guilt.

"We snatch the bitch tomorrow night."

**Glee!**

They've talked it over a hundred times at least, and Finn knows the plan better than he knows himself. This is it, the big shit as Puck calls it, and once they pull it off, they'll be golden.

Saying bye to his mom killed him. She asked so many questions, shouted so many insults that he knew she didn't mean, and when he refused to tell her where he was going with Puck, she cried, cried for fucking ages, and he almost backed down to stay with her.

He's doing it for her though. She's taken care of him for his entire life, so it's time he returned the favour.

He leaves the house with a sore cheek (his mom sure can slap), and he gingerly wipes away the lipstick mark on his other cheek, and he knows things will be okay, eventually. He catches Puck crying when he clambers into the truck, but he pretends not to notice, and sheds a few of his own as they drive up to Carmel.

"Look at all the rich bastards," Puck hisses, caught between admiration and disgust. Finn knows the feeling, because these kids have got it good, and he bets they take it all for granted. It's not their fault, but they both need someone to blame so they blame them, in their blazers and synchronised routines.

"She leaves at-"

"Six, after she's taken part in-"

"Glee club, and she won't be-"

"Alone; she'll probably be with-"

"Two other kids, and we need to-"

"Distract them, right."

The constant back and forth of the plan helps to keep both of them calm, and Finn has a feeling he's going to be reciting it in his sleep.

"What time is it now?"

"Five to six. You ready, man?"

Finn doesn't hesitate. "I was born ready." They share a quick fist bump before they jump out of the truck and disappear in opposite directions. Puck's job is to distract the girl's friends, make them go the other way, and then Finn has to ask her for help, long enough to steer her off towards the truck so he can pull her inside.

As he's waiting around, he remembers how much he misses McKinley. Yeah, it was a shithole, like pretty much everything in his life, but it was normality, for a while at least. Neither he nor Puck wanted to drop out to get involved in crime, but it's not like they had much of a choice.

He stiffens when he sees the target. She's only with one other person, a black girl who gives Puck the evil eye, and while his friend pretends to ask her survey questions about how much she likes attending Carmel, Finn steps forward and puts his limited acting skills to good use.

This is the first time he's ever seen Rachel Berry in the flesh, and for a split second, he questions everything. She's small, tiny even, and she has big brown eyes and long dark hair and she has a smile, a presence about her, that makes him wonder if it's worth it. The photos don't do her justice, and he bitterly thinks that if things were different, if he was a rich kid who attended Carmel too, he'd have liked to ask her out on a date.

Except wishful thinking never got him anywhere, and for all he knows, Berry is a bitch, and he tries to remember that as he approaches her.

"Excuse me," he says weakly, his hands shaking (he can't tell if it's with nerves, or if he's shaking on purpose). "C-can you help me?"

In the over-the-phone briefing sessions, the 'boss' (they never have any clue who they're officially working for) warned them that Rachel would be wary of strangers.

"_All Carmel kids are," _said the gruff voice, "_so you need to earn her trust in any way you can."_

Finn can immediately see the fear in the girl's eyes, and though it's gone in a flash, it was there for long enough. "I'm sorry, I have to go, I-" She's about to sidestep him, and Finn thinks about just grabbing her and running, but then she does something he doesn't expect, and she hesitates before touching his arm; the contact practically burns him. "What is it?"

He has no clue why she's suddenly interested, but this works, and he can't blow it. "M-my dog, Noah, h-he's bleeding in my truck but I'm n-not good with blood, and I think s-something's stuck in his paw."

Finn knows girls are suckers for animals, and if she wasn't hooked before, she certainly is now. She seems to melt on the spot with sadness, and before he knows it, she's taking his hand and pulling him towards the truck in a half-sprint.

"I know what to do," she says firmly, and Finn squeezes her fingers as he follows behind. He briefly looks over his shoulder to see Puck staring at him in awe, and then he's running behind them, ready to escape. "I happen to be an expert in animal first-aid."

"Awesome," he says breathlessly, and Finn's heart pounds pounds pounds like it's going to explode. They only have one shot at this, and he tries to ignore his sudden fear for her safety, because she opens the back doors to peer inside, only to see some rope and a blindfold.

"What-"

They decided that Puck would be the one to get her inside since he's quicker and stronger and pretty much better than Finn in every way. He's glad that they planned this part too, 'cause in the blink of an eye, Puck already has her in the truck, a piece of rope shoved in her mouth so she won't scream, the blindfold tied tightly around her head.

"Hands," he hisses to Finn, and he gets onto tying up her hands with rope. Even though she's gagged, he can hear her whimpering in confusion and fright, and his heart aches for the tiny girl. It's not her fault that she's from a wealthy family (one of the wealthiest in town, according to Puck), but they need what her parents have, and all's fair in love and war. "You sit in the back with her, make sure she doesn't get free of anything."

Puck jumps out, locks Finn and the girl in, and they're forced into the darkness of the truck, waiting for the engine to start.

The vehicle jerks forward, and they're on their way, they're doing this, and there's no turning back, not now, not ever.

Just like they're taking a casual drive to the park, Puck turns on the radio and sings along to Journey (it's the only thing that ever plays these days), leaving Finn to sit awkwardly and stare at the shaking, blubbering girl. He wants to reassure her that they're going to take good care of her, but why should she believe him?

So he doesn't, but he shuffles closer, and he gently strokes her hair in the way his mom used to do to him when he couldn't get to sleep.

She winces, and he doesn't blame her, but she doesn't pull away, and she stops crying, which is good (it's better for his conscience that way). Finn wants to tell her his name. He's not dumb though, so he doesn't; she can't know his name in case she spills the beans when they let her go.

"We've got a long journey ahead of us," he whispers in her ear, "so maybe you should try and get some sleep." He's still stroking her hair, and he sees her nod a little, though she doesn't move her body. "I'm sorry... about the dog thing. That was nice of you to want to help."

At this she turns her back on him, and he doesn't try to talk to her anymore. They have plenty of time for that, and so Finn sits in silence, listening to Puck killing a few classics while he watches Rachel, the newest honorary member of their shitty little family.


	2. Chapter 2

_Before the gold and the glimmer have been replaced  
>Another sun soaked season fades away<em>

Rachel groggily wakes up with a headache. She curses herself because she can feel mascara still clogging up her eyelashes, and that's going to be a pain to wipe off. Why didn't she do it the night before? Removing her light makeup is part of her pre-sleep ritual, and she groans because she feels so achey. Why hasn't her alarm gone off? Is it Saturday? She blinks a few times, trying to remember where she is (did someone drug her? What was in Mercedes' orange juice?), and then she hears an unknown male voice, and it comes washing over her like the wave machine at the private swimming pool she frequents with Tina; she's been kidnapped, and she suddenly finds herself needing to throw up or scream or pass out or _something_.

She briefly considers feigning sleep so the kidnappers will leave her alone, but she's not going to take this lying down; she's Rachel Barbra Berry, and she's a fighter.

A door opens, and the dark room spills with light and makes her eyes water. She wants to rub away the onslaught of tears in case they think she's crying due to weakness, but it dawns on her that her hands are still tied up, and her wrists are red raw from the constant, uncomfortable friction of the rope.

Two men walk into the room, one wearing a mask, one not, and terror freezes her heart. She doesn't know what they could want with her, what they could possibly want, and her stomach clenches uncomfortably.

"Rachel Berry."

The masked man says her name as a statement rather than a question, and she knows now that they have plans for her; she wasn't just a random, unlucky target. She wonders if she can lie and tell them that her name is Mercedes Jones, but she knows it would never work.

She doesn't validate their suspicions though, and keeps her lips pressed together tightly in silent protest, glaring at the masked assailant with narrowed, furious eyes. If they think she's a pushover because of her size, they're gravely mistaken.

"Confirm your name or I'll slap it out of you." The man with the mask steps forward and she lets out an involuntary gasp, but he's stopped by the hand of his accomplice, the man she only now takes a look at.

Man is an overstatement; the boy looks to be no older than eighteen, maybe even her age of seventeen, and it's the same boy who tricked her in the first place. She's ashamed of her naivety. Her fathers, her teachers, the reporters on the news, they'd all warned her not to talk to strangers, and she'd voluntarily walked over to his truck, holding his hand, right into his trap.

In her (weak) defence, Rachel has always believed herself to be a good judge of character, and something about the boy's eyes, his freckles, his worry, had urged her to drop her constant guard (and factoring in the possibility of an injured animal, she'd never really stood a chance).

She doesn't miss the way the masked man snarls at the boy and whispers some type of curse. "Fine," he hisses, "you get it out of her. I'll be back in five minutes." He storms out of the room, not looking back at either of them, and the door closes, shedding the space in darkness once more.

"Oh, yeah, um, I think there's a light switch somewhere." She listens, her body poised, as the boy fumbles around the room, and after he apparently stubs his toe at least three times, he finds the switch, and a dim bulb flickers above their heads. She tries her best not to look at him (she doesn't want to give him the satisfaction of her attention), but she glances briefly at his face, and even now, knowing what he's capable of, she finds it impossible to believe that he's involved in her abduction. Though she couldn't see the other man's face, she could tell by his voice that he wasn't opposed to hurting her to get what he wanted, but this boy? His voice is shaky and soft, not as deep as her friend Artie's, and not as high as her friend Kurt's, but either way, he doesn't sound like a criminal.

"So, your name, uh, it's Rachel Berry, right?"

She can hear the difference in the pronunciation too. The masked man spat her name out like venom that burnt his tongue, but the boy... he says it like its fragile, and she appreciates that.

"Yes," she whispers, and her heart jolts when her response elicits a small, crooked smile from the boy.

"Okay, thanks, for, you know, co-operating." He takes a few, careful steps towards her and sinks down onto the cold stone floor, and he shivers at the same time that she does. "I'm sorry, the accommodation sucks, and I'm afraid you won't get a chocolate on your pillow every morning."

She giggles, if only for a second, and she already feels at ease, even if she should be terrified.

"I'm-" he begins, and Rachel can see the conflict sweeping over his face. He obviously has something to say, but he's worried (maybe for his safety, maybe for hers, she can't tell). "I'm s-sorry, for-"

"For kidnapping me and holding me against my will?" She doesn't mean to sound so dry and bitter, but under the circumstances, she figures she can excused for having poor manners.

"Yeah, pretty much. Look, Pu- my friend will be back soon, so I can't really-" He sighs loudly and runs a hand through his hair, and she can see his body shaking with the effort, like he has a weight on his shoulders. "You might be here for a while, and it might not be so great, but..." He looks up, his amber eyes understanding and warm, and Rachel finds herself captivated by his gaze. "I'll look after you, okay? I don't wanna hurt you, and Pu- _my friend_, he might act all tough, but he doesn't wanna hurt you either."

"Why aren't you wearing a mask?" she asks, and he grimaces a little.

"You already saw my face, so there's no point in, you know, trying to save myself. I've come to terms with that I guess."

Her eyes narrow. "With what?"

"That you'll give the police my description and stuff; s'no big deal. Anyway, um..." He rubs the back of his neck, and if she weren't being held hostage, Rachel would have smiled at how nervous and awkward he was. "I'll come back and talk to you, and uh, explain the situation, once my friend's left. Can you do me a favour though?"

She's about to snort in disgust, because why should she do this boy any kind of favour? But instead she nods, and he grants her with another half smile.

"I can tell that you're the kind of girl who doesn't let people push her around, and that's awesome, but..." His smile fades. "My friend, he's... He's pissed off, and he's got the right to be, and just, please try not to get on his bad side, okay? I know it might be hard for you to do as he says, but it's for your own good."

"Fine, but I'll just have to make sure that you don't push me around to make up for it."

They smile in unison, and then the boy stands up, heading to the door. "I'm strangely okay with that. And hey, listen, I'll try and do something about this room, maybe get you a rug or something."

"Reds and pinks compliment my skin tone," she jokes, and he lets out an honest, innocent laugh.

"I'll see what I can do."

He opens the door, ready to leave her to the wrath of the masked man, when she decides to test her luck. "Erm, excuse me."

"Yeah?" One of his eyebrows is raised in a quizzical, amused fashion, and it makes her feel at ease.

"Could you... Are you allowed to tell me your name?"

Conflict once again flashes across his face, and he glances out of the door, as if checking to see if the coast is clear. "No, not really, but if you don't tell... I'm Finn."

"Finn," she repeats, the name pleasant and airy on her tongue, "it's nice to meet you."

"You too Rachel, play nice."

She doesn't understand his advice, but when he disappears to be replaced with the man in the mask, she understands. She puts her guard back up, but readies herself to play along to keep herself safe.

"So, did my boy get you to admit you're Berry?"

She wants to roll her eyes at his over the top bravado, but she knows that will only antagonise the thug. "Yes." _Without the aid of violence_, she adds mentally.

"Good. See? Being a bitch gets you nowhere."

She doesn't answer, but smiles sweetly at him in a sickly fashion that makes her feel ashamed of herself. She knows this man's type, the one who thinks he's better than everyone else, the one who thinks everyone's attracted to him, and she has to pander to these tendencies, no matter how repulsive she may find it.

"Here's the deal. My boy's gonna come and explain everything to you, and you're gonna co-operate, m'kay?"

She almost retches at his repetition of 'my boy', disliking this man already, but she says nothing and simply nods like a good girl.

"I'll be in charge of your main course tonight; I hope you like sheep brains." She can hear him laugh under the safety of his ski mask, and she hopes, more than anything, that he's joking about the food.

He slams the door shut (but not before being juvenile and turning off the light), and Rachel curls herself into a ball, the ropes restricting her feet and hands, and she tries to get to sleep as best she can. She doesn't know what time it is, or where she is, or how long she's been in the room, but already she can feel despair seeping into her heart. She misses her dad, she misses her daddy, she misses her friends and her teachers and her pony and her cat.

She hopes Finn will be back soon.

**Glee!**

There's a knock on the door that almost sounds polite, and Rachel knows who it is before the gentle voice asks her if it's okay for him to enter.

"Yes," she calls, still a little sleepy, and Finn slips inside and turns on the light, making her wince and close her eyes.

"I've brought you your dinner," he says apologetically, and the smell assaults her senses before she knows what's hit her. "I've convinced Puck to let me cook from now on, 'cause this doesn't look too good."

She forgets about the mess of food that he puts in front of her, because without knowing, he's just let slip the other man's name.

She doesn't mention it. She doesn't want Finn to get in trouble, and so she smiles weakly at him before pushing the plate away with her foot.

"Yeah, I don't blame you," he says as he sits down. She notices the blanket under his arm, and he unfolds it and wraps it over her shoulders, extremely careful not to touch her. "Best I could do, but I'll try and get some other stuff for you when I can."

"Thank you," she says with a yawn. She snuggles into the blanket, thankful for the warmth, and she holds her hands out to him. "Could you-"

He shakes his head sadly. "Sorry, no. I've got strict instructions not to untie you in case you strangle me when I come in the room or something."

She giggles faintly. "I have finished many men in the same way, I must admit."

He grins at that, and it's that comfortable air again from earlier in the day. Puck puts her on edge, like she's walking on a razor's edge, readying herself for injury, whilst Finn lets her relax without fear of violence, and she doesn't question it, but accepts it without thought.

"Anyway, I need to talk to you, explain some stuff." She nods for him to continue, and Finn clears his throat at the same time that his cheeks blush faintly in the weak light. "We kidnapped you on someone else's orders," he begins, and it doesn't really surprise her as much as it should. "We're the hired thugs I guess, doing the dirty work, and um, yeah, we're supposed to keep you here until we get our next instructions."

"I thought so," she whispers, and he looks sorry, so sorry.

"Whoever's running this thing, they want to use you so they can set a ransom for your family to pay. Once they have the money, we let you go unharmed, and that's that."

She knows that it's not that simple, and he knows it too. "How did you get mixed up in this, Finn?"

Rachel can see the surprise in his face. He was probably expecting her to throw a fit and complain and cry, but she's honestly curious about the circumstances. Puck she can understand, he screams brute and criminal, but Finn's fresh faced and kind, and she can't imagine him being who he is.

"Not by choice," he admits quietly as he stares at the floor. "Times are hard. I mean, they always have been, and we used to be able to get by in honest ways, but in our area, the rent on the houses went up fifty percent." She sees his jaw clench, and she reaches forward to pat his hand, even if it's awkward when she's still tied up. "We were already paying too much, but with nowhere else to go, we had to just accept it and move on. Except, well, my mom's wages weren't enough, and the small jobs I worked didn't pay a lot, so Pu- my friend promised to find a solution."

"He lives with you?"

He shakes head. "It would make more sense if he did, financially and stuff, but no, he lives at the end of my street with his mom and younger sister, and I just live with my mom." He sighs and shrugs. "I don't know how he got us involved, but he turned up to school one day with a job he needed help with, and he said it would pay better than my shifts at Breadstix, this shitty, rundown restaurant, and so I helped him."

Rachel gulps and unconsciously licks her lips while she watches Finn try and compose his thoughts.

"He drove us to an empty warehouse, and inside was this guy. I thought maybe we'd be loading trucks with stock or something, but next thing I know, my friend's telling me to hold the guy still while he beats the crap out of him." He lets out a hollow laugh. "I puked when we were done. There was so much blood and the guy was a frickin' mess, and Puck, he just, he brushed it off like it was no big deal, passed on the info he got from the dude, and then we left, and split the money."

She ignores the slip of the name again, more interested in the story. "Why didn't you stop? Surely there were other jobs you could have done?"

She sees Finn's face change. His temporary vulnerability turns to bitterness and anger, and it makes her flinch away from him. "You go to Carmel, you live in the rich part of town, you'd never understand," he snaps, though she can tell instantly that he regrets it, and he takes he hand and squeezes it briefly. "Sorry, I- It's not your fault. I've kind of gotten used to it by now, and Puck talks so much about how it's your fault, your family's fault, everyone else's fault that we're so stinking poor, but it's not."

Her fears dispels immediately. "How did you go from beating up people to kidnapping me?"

It's Finn's turn to flinch, maybe caught off guard by the bluntness of her question. "I never- The jobs we had to do, Puck would- Shit!" He nearly jumps up, aware of his mistake, but Rachel grabs his hand and holds him there.

"I think that's the fourth time you've said his name." His face turns white, and she smiles, in the most reassuring way she can. "I won't tell him."

"Thanks Rach," he breathes, and he misses the way she sucks in a surprised breath; no one's ever called her Rach before. "Erm, so yeah, P-Puck, he... He learnt soon enough that violence wasn't really me, not when I didn't know the guys we were kicking the crap out of, so he just invited me along for support I think. But um, he got a call, offering him more money, a lot more money, if he could pull your kidnap off, and I didn't really have a choice." His eyes are sad and his body is slumped, and Rachel's heart aches for him. "The money's good, and it'll keep our families alive, and I'm really sorry, I am."

"I forgive you," she says in no more of a whisper. She's not just humouring him (or trying to humour herself) because it's true, she forgives him, and though she doesn't pretend to understand the difficulties of his background, she can tell that he's only doing this because he's desperate.

She sees a tear slip down his cheek, and it gives her hope. Even if Puck sounds sadistic, she knows that Finn will protect her, and she thinks that maybe she'll get out of here alive after all.

"You're cool, Rachel," he says in a choked breath, and she gives him her biggest, brightest smile.

"I try."

There's a bang on the door that knocks them out of their moment, and before they're interrupted by Puck, Finn quickly fumbles with the ropes around her hands. He loosens them then presses a finger to his lips, and she knows that once she's left alone, she'll be able to undo them properly.

"You done in there? What's taking so fucking long?"

"Yeah, I'm done." Finn graces Rachel with a small smile and a lame wave, to which she giggles quietly, and he has the courtesy to leave the light on. The door is locked from the outside, and instead of fear gripping her body, it's hope, excitement, _attraction; _she's getting into dangerous territory.

**A/N: **Thanks for all the alerts! It would really mean a lot to me if you left a review if you're enjoying it/intrigued so far. It's not about reaching a certain number or anything, but since I've never written anything like this before, it would help immensely to gain some kind of feedback to know whether this is a hit or a miss (plus, if I get more people letting me know they want to read more, I can update a lot faster).

Thank you to everyone who reviewed on the first chapter, and chapter three will be up in the next few days :)


	3. Chapter 3

_And from the ballroom floor we are in celebration  
>One good stretch before our hibernation<em>

Puck double checks the locks as if he can suspect that something's going on, and once they're walking down the damp hallway, he gives Finn a suspicious glare. "We're brothers, and that means you're gonna be straight with me."

Finn shrugs. "Course man, what is it?"

"Are you screwing her?"

He splutters indignantly whilst Puck just rolls his eyes. "S-screwing- no, of course not, I only just met her today!"

"Wrong answer," Puck hisses, and before Finn knows it, he's pinned up against the cobweb-covered walls, his best friend's face inches from his own; he can smell alcohol on his breath, and he can feel the fury in his glare. "What you're supposed to say is no, you're not screwing the bitch because she's our hostage, and you don't wanna ruin the whole goddamn operation." His grip on Finn tightens, and for a second, he's worried that his friend is going to kill him. "Course, goody two shoes Hudson is outraged by the accusation 'cause you don't fuck someone on your first date." He lets him go, and Finn falls awkwardly to the floor.

"No, I didn't mean-"

"Sure you did," Puck snarls, "you want to bone her, and I'm telling you now, she's a no go." Despite his anger, he helps Finn up, and they continue walking while Finn rubs at his sore shoulder. "I don't see what the big deal is anyway. She's a midget, she has a huge nose and she's got no boobs; waste of time."

Finn doesn't say anything, doesn't tell Puck that she has the prettiest eyes he's ever seen, the happiest smile he's ever known, and hair that he wants to stroke forever.

"S'not like I'm gonna get it anywhere else," he says gruffly, trying to dig himself out of his hole.

"I knew it," his friend says with a laugh, "I _knew_ you wanted to get in her pants, but don't worry man, I have a surprise for you."

He leads him into one of the small rooms of the dilapidated building, the one where they go to wait for phone calls and plan out their next moves, and instead of it being empty as always, two girls are sitting on one of the tables, and Finn looks frantically at Puck; how the hell did they get in there, and what are they doing? He eyes them up and down to see if they're wearing police badges, or if they're carrying guns, and the dark haired one of the two, a tall, pretty Latina girl, mistakes his fear for lust.

"I like him, he's cute," she drawls, and she smiles seductively at him, her lips pulled in a way that looks like she's the cat that got the cream. Finn can't deny, the chick's hot, but he's confused; why is Puck risking their operation for a couple of girls?

"It's a treat from the boss," Puck says with a smirk, and Finn's eyes widen as the blonde girl practically pounces on him, running her hands over his mohawk. "One night only, but it's better than nothing."

Hookers? He can't- The guy they're working for has got them hookers? He's disgusted, downright sickened by the thought, and yet he can't tear his gaze away when the blonde girls pulls off her shirt to reveal her huge, probably fake boobs, concealed poorly behind a green lacy bra. Puck hesitates for a second, and then he's motor boating them while the blonde girl giggles and squeals in delight.

"You gay?" asks the dark haired girl, and Finn manages to look away from Puck, his eyes widening further at the Latina's breasts, which she's pressing together as she watches him.

"W-what?"

She takes a step closer to him, and Finn takes a step back because there's no way he's losing his virginity to a goddamn prostitute. "I saw the way you were watching him touch Britt, and maybe you're not interested in me because you wish he was touching you like that."

"Knock it off," barks Puck, who's carrying the blonde onto one of the shaky tables in the room. "My boy's not gay, just inexperienced, so shut up and service him."

Even though Finn feels a slight twitch in his pants at the sight of the nearly naked girl in front of him, Puck's words remind him how cheap and nasty this is, and he's not gonna do anything with either of them.

"You know what? I've changed my mind. Britt? It's time to get my mack on to get these boys going."

"Yay, I love your sweet lady kisses!" sings the girl who goes by Britt, and though Puck complains when she jumps out of his grasp, he stops as he realises what they're talking about. The dark haired one sits on a chair, and Britt lowers herself onto her friend's lap. Finn wants to leave, wants to go home (and take Rachel with him), but he has nowhere else to go, and is forced to stand awkwardly and watch as the girls' lips meet, and then they're kissing frantically, tongues all over the place, hands in intimate places, and he can see Puck touching himself out of the corner of his eye, egging them on as their contact gets heated.

"I'm gonna get some fresh air," Finn announces to an uncaring room, and he leaves as the blonde becomes completely naked and Puck curses with a groan.

God, this is disgusting, he can't even- does his friend not know him? He's never been good with girls, never mind the sex and stuff that follows, and to think for one second that he'd want to give it up to a prostitute?

Finn throws his hand against the brick wall of the place they're hiding out in, and instantly regrets it when his finger makes a suspicious cracking noise, and the skin on his knuckles is grazed and bleeding.

Yeah, he's a guy, he has urges and desires and all the kind of shit, but he doesn't want to see two girls, complete strangers, getting it on while his best friend gets himself off.

While all this crap is going on, Rachel is only down the hall, a few rooms down, and it sickens him even more.

He isn't sure how long he's sitting outside for, but he's eventually joined by the hookers, who sit down on either side of him.

"I'm Santana, and this is Brittany." He smiles weakly at both of them, though doesn't manage his own introduction. "We get it, okay? You're not comfortable with what we do, and that's alright."

Brittany takes his hand and squeezes it while Santana pulls her messy hair into a clean, tight ponytail.

"We're not really comfortable with it either," says the blonde, and Finn shakes his head.

"Then why do you do that, selling your bodies and kissing each other and stuff?"

"Making out is the fun part," Santana says with a smirk, and Brittany giggles and nods. "The rest of the stuff is just what we do, and I thought you'd understand more than anyone."

"Why would I understand?"

"Because you're in the same boat, duh!" laughs Brittany, still stroking his hand, and it feels nice, like they've always been friends. "We do it because we need the money, and sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do to survive."

He feels bad for judging them before he knew them, and he gets it straight away, of course he does. He isn't here by choice, and neither are they. "Sorry about Puck," he mumbles, 'cause that jackass totally took advantage of them.

"Don't apologise for him; he's just coping like the rest of us." Santana slings an arm around Finn's shoulders, and then she rests her head on his arm. "I feel sorry for you."

"Oh yeah, and why's that?"

"Because this place, this scene, it's not for you, and yet you have to slum it like the rest of us."

Brittany nods in agreement, and he gets an uncomfortable lump in his throat. "I'm Finn," he says quietly, and like they're the closest of friends, they wrap their arms around each other and hug for what feels like a lifetime.

**Glee!**

Britt and Santana stay for the night, curled up one of the dingy old chairs, and while they wait for their first phone call at their temporary home, Finn can see Puck glancing at them every five minutes.

"They're asleep you douche, they're not gonna do anything."

"You should have seen it though man," he mumbles. Puck licks his lips, and Finn rolls his eyes in response. "They were scissoring, and the blonde chick touched the other one in _just_ the right place and-"

"Don't need to know," Finn says in exasperation, ignoring the stare of disbelief on his friend's face. "We need to focus on what we do next."

"Yeah yeah, sorry for troubling you with the beauty of girl on girl sex, I'll make sure not to next time."

The phone rings in Puck's hand, and both of them straighten up; all joking aside, this is the important part, and they can't screw it up. He answers it, puts the setting on speaker, and Finn holds his breath.

"This is P29," Puck says coldly.

"_P29, this is the big B." _Finn gulps at the same time that his friend does; this is their boss. _"Did you get the gifts I sent you?"_

"I did sir, and thank you, that was thoughtful of you."

Finn hopes Santana and Brittany really are asleep, because he doesn't want them to hear this, hear them being treated like worthless possessions. "_Two of the finest in my collection," _the voice says, and even Puck scrunches his face up at the guy. _"You can keep them for the week for doing such a good job. You're sure you have Berry?"_

"Yeah," says Puck with a nod, "that's been confirmed."

"_Good. I need to lay down some ground rules. Number one; don't fuck her."_

Puck glares at Finn, whose cheeks blush without warning. "Yes sir."

"_I'm serious, P29. The girls are there if you need to bang out your frustration, but Berry is off limits. This is gonna be a simple trade, money for the girl, and if either of you screws her, you'll jeopardise the whole operation."_

"We understand," Puck says through gritted teeth, staring at Finn while he squirms uncomfortably in his seat.

"_Secondly, for now, don't harm her. We're hoping that her parents cough up the money as soon as we send the ransom note, and we need her in one piece if we wanna succeed."_

"And if they don't, sir?"

There's a long silence that makes Finn's blood boil. "_I'll contact you with further information. If they refuse to co-operate, then we turn the heat up, send them what she's wearing with some of her blood on it, the usual."_

Finn sees Puck's bravado falter, and he knows that even if he's in this for the money, he doesn't want to hurt the girl unless he has to (Finn prays that they don't have to).

"Noted, sir."

"_This goes without saying, but don't let her out of her room; got it?"_

"Yes sir."

"_Now, what I need you both to do is simple. The girls brought a laptop and newspaper with them. Use the webcam and take a photo of Berry holding up the paper, zoomed in enough so you can see today's date, and then email it to the address provided on the computer. I'll give it a once over and send it to her parents, and then we'll see how it goes from there. Good job so far boys, good job."_

"Thank you sir," says Puck weakly, and the man hangs up; Brittany snuffles in her sleep. "Right, I'll go-"

"No, I wanna do it." Finn stands up, practically shaking from head to toe, and he glances across at the girls, a laptop bag beside their chair. He waits for Puck to yell at him for whatever reason, but the phone call's left him drained, his old courage gone, and he doesn't resist, but nods and makes himself a shitty cup of coffee.

"It'll be worth it, right Finn?" he whispers, and there's hesitance and regret in every syllable.

"When we get paid, we can move out of Lima for good, take real care of our families; yeah, it'll be worth it man."

Puck nods, grateful for the pep talk, and Finn leaves him to catch a few z's while he gets on with the task of photographing Rachel. Bag in his hand, he checks the security cameras that are placed all around the house, just in case, and then makes his way to the tiny girl's room. He knows he doesn't need to knock, but he does anyway (it used to piss him off so bad when his mom would barge in without knocking), and he can hear her voice, small, like her, echoing around his ears.

He walks in, wary at first (for all he knows, she might actually try and strangle him), but he needn't be; she's curled up in a ball, just as he left her, the disgusting concoction still uneaten in the corner of the room.

"Sorry to bother you again," he says lamely. She doesn't look mad though, and she simply smiles at him, which is nice. "I have to take your picture, if that's okay? Just so your mom and dad know that you're safe."

He doesn't know what he'll do if she refuses, 'cause he asked out of courtesy more than anything, but she just nods and stands up, and he sets up the laptop, handing her the newspaper. She doesn't ask questions, and he figures she's smart enough to understand what's happening.

"It's not my mom and dad," she says quietly, and Finn jumps a little at the sound of her voice.

"I'm sorry, did they pass away? I didn't..."

She shakes her head, and her long, awesome hair bounces with her movements, and Finn has to stop himself from drooling (girl on girl did nothing for him, but Rachel's hair turns him into a mess). "No, it's okay, it's nothing like that. I have two gay dads, and I never knew my mother." He opens his mouth in shock, and maybe she mistakes that for prejudice, because her eyes narrow and she huffs to herself.

"That's cool," he says honestly. "I don't have a dad. He died when I was a baby, so you having two of them... It's cool."

It's her turn to look shocked, but she soon smiles widely at him, and the tension in the air disappears. "Sorry, I thought- Some people still don't approve of homosexuality, even in this day and age, and it- I'm sorry about your dad, though."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

There's a comfortable silence, and then Finn positions the webcam so that he can see every bit of her (Puck's right, she doesn't have huge boobs like Santana or Brittany, but they're modest and nice, not that he's staring). "Can you hold up the- Yeah, that's it, thanks." He zooms the focus in on the date until only her face and hands are visible behind the paper, and when he takes the picture, he's surprised to see Rachel run over and examine the screen thoughtfully.

"Hmmm. Considering the poor lighting and my lack of fresh makeup, that's not the worst picture I've ever seen."

"You look pretty," he says offhandedly, and he notices that they both turn red at the same time. "O-okay, I'm all done so I'm gonna..." He hurries to pack away the computer and practically sprints for the door, but he thinks it's rude if he just leaves, so he turns to look at her, and she looks happy (or as happy as she could be in this hell hole).

"Finn?"

He gulps. "Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"You're... you're welcome."

He locks the door behind him, unable to hide the huge grin on his face, and once the photo is sent and approved by the boss, he manages to get some sleep, even if it's just for a few hours, Rachel the only face he recognises in his disjointed nightmares.

**A/N:** As a result of the amazing feedback on the last chapter, I thought I'd post this one earlier than planned. Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews, and don't forget to let me know what you're thinking! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: There's a brief mention of self harm near the end of the chapter, so this is just a heads up (it's not as terrible as it sounds I promise!)**

_Clear liquor and cloudy eyed  
>Too early to say goodnight <em>

She misses Finn. It's been two days since he's spoken to her ('You're pretty' is playing in a constant loop in her thoughts), and she can't help but wonder if something happened to him. Puck's been in her room twice just to hand out some food, and it's actually edible this time (she hopes that it's Finn who's made it for her, staying true to his word).

She misses her dads though, and as more time passes, she wonders how they're coping without her. She knows they must be terrified for her safety, but even though this is the last place she wants to be, it could be worse, a lot worse, and she's simply left to her own devices, unharmed and unbothered.

**Glee!**

He can't bring himself to see her. He's slowly realising that this relationship between them, whatever the hell it is, is too comfortable, too familiar, and it's too easy to forget why they're here. She should _hate_ him for what they're doing, and yet she talks with him like he's an old friend, and he gladly does the same, forgetting that he should be keeping her at arm's length.

Finn makes Puck take her the food, and since the guy is a professional, he's in and out like it's supposed to be. They don't really talk about Rachel, and Puck never says her first name, because that's how it _should_ be; he doesn't want to associate her as a young girl, and so he desensitizes himself from that fact.

Finn can't do that though. He's not the sort of person who can act heartless and strong in a situation like this, and he figures that he can't be blamed for liking a girl who's of a similar age, right? (He keeps that question to himself though, 'cause Puck would go crazy if he found out the two were somewhat friends).

As a way of being close to her, and as a way of appearing 'loyal' to their cause, Finn decides to start sitting outside her room in case she tries to escape. Maybe Puck really does know that something's going on, 'cause there's no physical way Rachel could escape without help, but he humours him and tells him it's a good idea, and he doesn't even roll his eyes or something when Finn excuses himself to go on 'Rachel duty'.

It's pretty boring, actually, because he just sits on a wooden chair, doing nothing, pretending that this makes him and Rachel closer somehow (and not just physically). He falls asleep at one point, but a sound wakes him up, and when he's sure that it's not coming from Puck and the two girls in the other room, he strains his ears and realises that it's coming from Rachel's room.

She's singing. He knew she was in a glee club at Carmel thanks to inside information, but he'd never... He hadn't given it much thought at the time, and now, as he listens to her voice floating in the air and in his ears and in his eyes and his hands and in his heart, he feels a part of him literally die inside.

She's perfect. He can feel her singing in every pore of his body and he wants to run in there and grab her and hold her and tell how that she has the best voice he's ever heard, but he can't, and it hurts, okay?

She's like a bird or something. Mockingbirds have nice voices, right? 'Cause she might be like one of those, singing a sad song as she's kept in a cage that she doesn't belong in, and he's the douchebag who snatched her from her home and forced her behind the bars, and he can't listen to her anymore, so he stops sitting outside her door and instead listens to Brittany's incessant stories about her cat.

Maybe he's a cat in this metaphor thing; maybe he's just praying on her because she's young and tasty and he's a terrible terrible person.

**Glee!**

On the third Finn-free day, she thinks about asking Puck where he is, but it isn't Puck who enters with her food. Instead, two girls saunter in, and she feels extremely uncomfortable. She's still wearing her Carmel uniform, now creased and dirty, but these strangers, they're wearing skimpy outfits that highlight their breasts, and she's confused by their intentions.

"I'm Brittany," says the blonde one, and she sits down next to Rachel, who says nothing. "This is Santana, and we're here to give you some company."

"Oh," is all she says, but she doesn't want their company, she wants _Finn's_. "I'm okay, thank you."

"How's the sex life?" asks Santana bluntly, and Rachel lets out an indignant, embarrassed squeak.

"Excuse me?"

"Before your ass got hauled in here, were you getting freaky on a regular basis?" She looks Rachel up and down, and her lips quirk as if in on some joke. "I'm gonna go with no."

"How dare you? You don't even know me!"

"But I know boys, and you ain't exactly overflowing with sexuality. The nose, the lack of boobs..." Santana laughs, a little maliciously. "Yeah, I'm gonna go with no."

"That's none of your business." Rachel huffs and considers turning her back on the rude girl, but she's slightly worried that if she does, they'll kill her before she has time to blink (maybe these two have replaced Finn and Puck?).

"Lighten up!" giggles Brittany as she wraps a piece of blonde hair around her finger. "You remind me of Finn."

Rachel falters, and at his name, her heartbeat quickens. "F-Finn, is he- Is everything okay?"

"Yeah yeah, he's just been busy learning how to cook or some shit. We had to go and get him a hundred cook books so he could experiment." Santana looks over at the empty plates stacked up against the wall, and Rachel blushes; Finn did all of that for her?

"How do I remind you of Finn?" she asks Brittany quietly, almost shyly, and the blonde girl crawls forward, licking her lips.

"Are you bi-curious, Rachel?" she whispers huskily, and before Rachel can react, Brittany's hand is running up her leg, and Santana is pushing her down, trying to undo her blazer.

"G-get off me!" she screams, and both girls jump back when the door opens and Finn barges in, his eyes on fire with anger.

"What are you doing to her?" he growls, and Rachel feels her blood run cold when she sees the huge kitchen knife in his hand.

"Oh please Frankenteen, chillax. We came to keep her company, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about." Santana winks at Rachel. "Your body's okay I guess, and I can kind of see what the giant sees in you." She stands up and takes Brittany's hand, and with a dramatic sigh, she kisses her on the cheek. "I think we're losing it Britt. We couldn't get Finnocence to join in a threesome, and Berry wasn't interested either." The two girls link pinkies and practically skip out of the room, leaving a mortified Rachel and a confused Finn.

"They tried it on with you?" he asks in disbelief, and she nods, completely ashamed. "That was- Rach, I'm sorry, I don't know why there were in here in the first place, I think they're bored and- Hey, why are you crying?" He closes the door, drops the knife on the chair, then kneels down beside her while she lets out broken sobs. "Rachel?"

"I _hate_ it here, Finn," she says through tears, and when Finn's arms carefully pull her against his body, she snuggles against him while he strokes her hair. "I miss my f-family and friends and I miss not being f-frightened." He rocks her back and forth while Rachel tries to control her sniffles, and being in his grasp, knowing that he cares, helps to slowly calm her down.

"What did they do?" She can hear how guarded he is, and she wonders what they did to him when he refused in the same way.

"Oh, they just t-tried to touch me I g-guess." She buries her face against his chest, and she can feel him stiffen, though if it's due to her admission or her closeness, she can't tell. "It's not j-just that though, it's..." She trails off, unable to finish her sentence, but then Finn's lips are pressed against her hair, and her vision blurs.

"You can tell me anything, okay?"

She barely knows him, but she knows that he's telling the truth, and she knows that she could tell this boy anything without it being awkward. "The other day... Did you really think I was pretty? S-Santana said-"

"Yes," he says without faltering, and he cups her face in his hands so they're staring at each other, her eyes red, his eyes shining. "Actually, I lied. You're not pretty, Rachel, you're beautiful, and screw Santana, she's-"

She cuts him off by pressing her lips to his. It's unplanned and reckless, and she knows that she's being selfish, even dangerous, but she doesn't care, not when Finn lets out a guttural moan and kisses her back, opening her mouth with the constant lapping of his tongue. She gratefully submits, lets him suck on her bottom lip and graze her mouth with his teeth, and all the while, a fire grows in her stomach that flushes through her body, and she's never been kissed like this before.

She sees white, and then she sees Finn jump up, horror written on his face, confusion, surprise... But she doesn't see regret, and she feels exactly the same way that he does. He's kidnapped her, and he can't be with her like this, no matter how much he wants it, no matter how much she wants it too.

"I-"

"I know," she says quietly, and he disappears, and it's Santana who brings her dinner a few hours later. She doesn't say anything, but gives Rachel a knowing look, and she wonders if she's just made things a whole lot worse.

**Glee!**

Santana stares up at the ceiling, waiting for their week to be up. Even though Puck's sworn himself off of her and Britt, they still have to stick around for the long haul, and it's so goddamn boring. The only thing that keeps her going is her best friend (and tormenting Finn and Rachel, that's another fun activity).

"Santana?" She looks across at Brittany, who's smiling at her. "You annoyed about Rachel?"

"What about her?"

Brittany grins. "About her not wanting to have sex with you."

"Please," she whispers and snorts at the same time, waving her hand in the air, "did you see her boobs? I needs me some big knockers to get excited about, and hers aren't worth the effort."

"It would have been hot though," says Brittany with longing, and Santana can't argue with that; girl on girl on girl is her kryptonite. "Wanna just do it with me instead?"

Santana raises an eyebrow in her friend's direction, and though she usually doesn't have to answer that, she sighs and rolls her eyes. "Britt, we're sleeping in a room with two guys, it's the middle of the night, and I know for a fact that you can't stay quiet." She tries to soften her expression at the disappointment on Brittany's face. "Sides, I think Finny's still awake, and we already know he doesn't get off on us being sexy."

"He's asleep," the blonde girl whines, "and I really want you."

She can't argue with that, and after scanning the room to make sure Puck and Finn really are asleep, she crawls over to Brittany, and the dance begins. Brittany nips at Santana's lips while the Latina girl focuses on removing every scrap of clothing, and before they even have the chance to catch their breath, Santana's kneading Britt's breasts while the blonde girl moans and writhes around, her eyelids fluttering.

"No," Santana scolds as she pulls her hand away, "no noises or you'll wake them up."

"Sorry," Brittany whimpers, and the tango starts again, hands stroking and rubbing and bodies wet and ready. Brittany's too close to the edge to notice Finn slip out of the room, and Santana's too fixated on getting them both off to notice the empty sleeping bag.

**Glee!**

Finn wonders how his mom's doing, wonders how Mrs Puckerman and Sarah are doing, and how Mike and Matt are doing, and he finds himself trying to think of anything that might distract him.

He's learnt by now that Santana and Brittany are anything but subtle when it comes to their relationship, but he hadn't expected them to do _that_ while he was in the same fucking room. It's not that lesbians repulse him or whatever, and he knows that Puck's a big fan of that kind of action, but when all of his thoughts were centred around Rachel, and when he could hear the girls moaning and touching each other and stuff, it didn't help him _not_ think about Rachel, about touching her breasts and making _her_ moan, and making love in that damp, dark, cell.

He sobers up at the thought, because there are a hundred and one reasons why he can't do that with her. He barely knows her (but he knows her _heart_), the boss guy made it clear (but he's not the boss of _Finn_), he's never had sex before (but he wants his first time to be with _her_), he's keeping her hostage (but she wants it just as much as _him_), and yeah, loads and loads of reasons, most of which he can think of a counter-argument for.

No, fuck, he's not allowed to go there, he won't go there, and he's determined to see this through to the end.

**Glee!**

The second call from 'big B' comes at six in the morning. Santana shouts something in Spanish (and doesn't hide the fact that she's sharing a sleeping bag with the blonde), Puck pulls his pillow over his head and groans, Brittany doesn't even stir, and Finn's left to take the call.

"This is F42," he yawns, and he can see Puck starting to get up, probably realising that it's important.

"_Nice to finally talk to you F42, this is big B. I have some news."_

"Is it good or bad?"

"_It's just news," _says the voice, and Finn can hear him falter; what's happened? _"The photo and ransom request were sent to Berry's residence, and as expected, they called the police. One of my inside guys told me they did multiple tests on them, trying to get fingerprints and the link, but they couldn't come up with anything to incriminate you or us."_

Finn lets out a breath he didn't realise he was holding. "That's- Okay, so there's a problem with the ransom?"

"_Yes," _says the boss regretfully. "_The Berrys are a wealthy, wealthy family, and I'm sure P27 told you that your joint reward would be $200,000." _Finn swallows, because even though he's well aware of the money, he can't quite believe it, and doesn't want to believe it until he has the notes in his hand. _"The ransom was for three million dollars, but it looks like the fish aren't biting."_

"They won't pay up for their daughter?" Finn snaps in disgust, because fuck, if they have the money, why wouldn't they want Rachel back? Oh, wait... "They don't have enough?"

"_They claim not to have enough, and apparently, they can only offer one million for the girl. As you can imagine, if we take that small amount of money, that means I can only offer you and P27 $40,000." _

All of a sudden, Finn feels incredibly selfish and greedy. Half of that would be $20,000, and even though it's more money than he's ever seen in his lifetime, compared to ten times that, it looks like small change, and he's already got his heart set on more (he knows that Puck will feel the same).

"So what do we do?"

"_We hurt her, make 'em sweat , and show her lousy parents that we're not playing games. If they want to fuck around and pretend they can't afford the ransom, then let them, but their daughter pays the price."_

No no no fuck no, he can't do this, they can't hurt Rachel. "Hurt her how, exactly?" He's past trying to whisper now, and Santana, Brittany and Puck are all staring, taking in the one-sided conversation.

"_Nothing too extreme. I want you to strip her down, take her bra, and then smear it with her own blood. Cut her on the hand, wrist, face, neck, whatever suits you most, and wipe it on the material; you all clear?"_

"Yes sir," he growls, and his grip tightens on the phone.

"_Good. Santana will give you my address."_

The boss hangs up, and Finn almost throws the phone at the wall in rage.

"Fuck, what's wrong, are we in danger?"

He shakes his head blankly at Puck, ignoring the whispering of the two girls. "He wants me to hurt Rachel, make her bleed on her clothes, and then we have to send it to him so they can threaten her parents even more."

"Thank God!" says Puck, sighing with relief, and it takes Finn all his has not to punch the douchebag in the face. "I thought we were gonna get caught or some shit. I'll go do it."

"Like hell you will." Finn storms out of the room, his body seething and his mind racing, and he's already sick of this whole damn thing. This is only day five, but it's five days too many as far as he's concerned; if it didn't endanger the life of Puck, Finn would just let Rachel go.

He bangs his knuckles against the door, and this time doesn't wait for her to grant him access. He imagined this to go a completely different way, you know. Like, the last time he saw her, they were kissing, and he was overcome with so many fucking feelings and sensations, and now he's here to purposefully hurt her, and it's killing him.

He turns on the lights (the shitty little room has no windows) and Rachel blinks sleepily at him, and graces him with a warm, thankful smile.

"Hey," she yawns, and she has the audacity to curl her finger and beckon him over, looking all kinds of sexy while she does it.

He can't resist (since he's only human), so Finn closes the door and walks towards her, his knees practically knocking together with nerves, and when he sinks onto the floor, he doesn't fight back when she pulls him in for a kiss.

It's not the same as the first time; it's tender and slow and it only lasts a few seconds, but it makes Finn lightheaded all the same.

"Morning," he breathes, and like music to his ears, she giggles.

"Morning Finn. Did you sleep well?"

"Nah, not really. Santana and Brittany thought they could get away with having sex with me and Puck in the room, and let's just say that they weren't too respectful about it."

He laughs at the way her ears pink and she covers her face in second-hand embarrassment, and he doesn't know what comes over him, but he pulls her into his lap and peppers her face in butterfly kisses while she all but purrs.

"What happens when I get out of here?" she asks, ever so quietly, and he's wondered this as well.

"Well, you'll go home to a family that loves you, and I'll probably go to jail."

She presses a finger to his lips and frowns at him, and he can't help thinking that Rachel's cute when she's angry. "No you won't. I'm not going to report you to the police, Finn. I meant... What happens to us?"

He purses his lips whilst he watches her, and she studies his face while she waits for an answer. "What do _you_ want to happen to us?"

"I want us to elope and never look back," she says in mock seriousness, and Finn laughs, even if he doesn't really get the joke. "Seriously, Finn, I want- I want to run away with you." She doesn't say anything else for a while, and God, he wishes it were that simple.

"Cool."

"Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"I think I have Stockholm syndrome."

"Does that mean you're dying?"

She laughs and playfully slaps his chest. "No. No, it's a phenomenon where people in my very position harbour positive feelings for their captors, often as a psychological coping mechanism. They experience empathy for those that have taken them hostage, and feel the need to defend their actions, believing they've done nothing wrong."

"Oh." He's not really sure what that means, and somehow, Rachel senses his confusion.

"It means that sometimes, those being held hostage fall in love with their kidnappers." She licks her lips and shrugs. "Sometimes."

"Is there, like, an anti-Stockholm syndrome?"

Rachel gives him an honest, heart wrenching smile before she nods, and seriously, Finn has to catch his breath at how pretty she is. "There is, as a matter of fact, and it has a very fitting name."

"Rachel Berry syndrome?"

She rolls her eyes and pushes him gently. "No. It's called Lima syndrome, where the kidnapper feels a form of sympathy for their hostage."

Finn leans forward, brushing his nose against hers, and he sees her suck in a breath. "Does that mean that, sometimes, they fall in love with them too?"

"I think so," she breathes, and their lips meet for their third kiss. He can feel the difference instantly, and though it might by a psychological thing, he's sure he can feel a lot more heart in their touch, and it snaps him out of this little Rachel Berry stupor he's fallen into.

"I have to do something that you're not going to like," he says as he breaks away from their kiss, and Rachel, like the good girl she is, only nods. "I've got orders to..."

"Say it, Finn," she urges, and she strokes his hand in a comforting manner that makes him want to curl up against her and cry, "I'll do anything for you."

"I need your bra," he says hoarsely, and she only hesitates for a second before she's taking off her clothes so she can unfasten it and hand it over. He tries not to look, he does, but Rachel's sitting in his lap, half naked, and her boobs are just... They're perfect. She catches him looking, and only smiles shyly before handing him the garment, and then she pulls her blazer back on, and Finn tries to commit her beauty to memory.

"Is that it?" she asks, and he can hear the slight fear in her voice.

No, that's not it, he needs to cut her and make her bleed, but instead he kisses her forehead and nods with a grin. "That's it. I have to go sort this out, but I'll be back later with lunch, and I'll try and stick around for a bit."

He holds her bra gingerly in his hands as he walks to the door, and this has become their thing, the last minute comment before he leaves to go do stuff. He turns to look at her, and she knows in the same way that he does that there's so much to say.

"About that syndrome," she begins, and Finn raises an eyebrow, "I don't think it's me trying to cope with this; I just genuinely like you, Finn."

"I genuinely like you too, Rach," he smiles, and they share an intimate gaze that lasts all of three seconds before he closes the door and pulls his penknife from his pocket. With no one around, Finn flicks it open, grits his teeth, and slashes the blade across his arm, wincing at the sharp, biting pain. The wound gushes quicker than he thought it would, and not missing a beat, he presses Rachel's bra to the cut, watching as the scarlet liquid seeps into the pure white fabric. It captivates him, the way the blood and the material become one.

He ignores the throbbing in his arm (he'll clean it up later) and holds the bra firmly in his grasp, hoping that this will motivate the Berrys into coughing up the money.

**A/N: **The response on this fic has been so amazing, so thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed so far! I love hearing some of your theories as to how it's going to progress, and since a few have you have mentioned it, Puck will eventually redeem himself, so don't worry about that (he's not evil, just desperate). Chapter five will be up either tomorrow or Tuesday, so once again, please don't forget to let me know what you think, and thanks again for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Again there are more mentions of violence, and this time it's Quinn's fault**

_And from the ballroom floor we are in celebration  
>One good stretch before our hibernation <em>

Rachel finds it hard to believe that she's been in the same room for six days (she's not even allowed to leave to use the bathroom, and has to use the old, dysfunctional toilet in the corner of the dark cell). It feels like longer in one sense, shorter in another, and she knows that without Finn, she would be beyond hope.

She doesn't know what to do though. When they let her go, how is she supposed to be with him? Because she wants to be, so badly. She may be rich, she may have friends and family, but she's never felt anything like this before. Finn makes her feel like an actual woman, rather than an asexual mess, and for whatever reason, he wants her, and she wants him too.

It might be different when she's free, but she knows in her heart that it won't be, not where it matters; the difference will be how easy it is to be together.

Brittany brings her breakfast (she hasn't seen the masked Puck for days now) and she eats as much of the oatmeal she can, which isn't a lot when it comes down to it. She needs her strength though, so she forces it down, ignoring the way the milk stings her throat, reminding her of her disloyal vegan behaviour.

She doesn't have a lot to occupy herself with, and so she thinks about her dads, and wonders how they're coping. She hopes they're taking good care of her pets, because she knows her dad has never liked her kitty, and her daddy is still frightened that her pony will kick him.

She wonders why they haven't rescued her yet. Finn took the photo days ago, so wouldn't they have known what they were demanding? She tries not to think of the possibility that they don't want her after all, because her dads adore her and she adores them.

She has no idea what the bra was in aid of. Maybe they didn't believe the photo and thought it was Photoshopped? Maybe they needed physical proof with her DNA on it? She tries not to dwell, and instead thinks of all the things Finn and her will do when they're free. She'd love to take him riding someday. Penelope is too small to be ridden, even by Rachel, but the two of them could visit the local stables and ride two of the horses there (or just one giant one, and she could sit behind Finn and cling on tightly, her arms wrapped around him while he smiles and tells her he's having fun and that he loves her).

She can hear voices outside her room, shouts of fury, and she hides under her blanket, hoping it will all be okay.

**Glee!**

"And do you have any proof?" snarls Puck. Finn's impressed really. Here's a random girl, blonde, pretty, nice body, and instead of checking her out, he wants to see her credentials like a professional.

"Not on me," she says in her breathy voice, nose upturned. "But you can call the boss. Tell him Q03 has arrived, and he'll confirm that I'm on your side."

Puck mutters something under his breath, and he drags Santana and Brittany away from the commotion (they only have one more day, and then they're free to leave, which is a relief).

"So what are you doing here?" asks Finn, and the blonde stranger cocks her head and stares at him like she's trying to see into his soul. He notices that she's wearing a cross around her neck, and it's strange; he didn't realise religion had anything to do with organised crime.

"And you are?"

"F42," he shrugs. "We're running things just fine here."

She looks more than sceptical, but she doesn't call him out on it. "The Berrys are still refusing to pay up, even with the bloodied evidence, so we're going with new tactics."

Finn only just notices that she's holding a briefcase of some kind, and whatever's inside, it can't be good. "What exactly?"

She graces him with a smile that makes him feel physically sick, even if he can't place why. She looks innocent and deadly at the same time, and she has an eerie, sadistic quality about her that makes Finn gulp.

"Interrogation," she says sweetly, and only when she lets herself into Rachel's room does he understand what that means.

"No," he says firmly, and he tries to snatch the briefcase out of her hands; she draws a gun on him and aims it straight at his face.

"I'm here to do a job, and though killing you isn't part of my to-do list, I can pencil you in."

He can hear Rachel gasp, but he can't see her hidden under the trembling blanket. "Okay," he says calmly as he holds up his hands. "I took you for a pushover and I'm sorry."

She holsters the gun and gives him that sickly sweet smile again. "It's all about the teasing and not about the pleasing," she purrs, and as if she'd just pulled a rabbit from out of a hat, she lifts out a gleaming silver scalpel that cuts to the core of Finn's emotions, and she hands him a video camera.

"What-"

"I'm here to torture Berry while you record it, and then we'll see if her parents bite after all."

Rachel darts out of the blanket in a mad rush to escape, but the blonde girl is expecting her, and she grabs her by the ankle and slams her to the ground in one swift movement.

"I used to be a cheerleader, can you tell?" She's delusional, fucking delusional, and Finn rushes to Rachel's side, only to have the blonde hold the goddamn scalpel to his neck.

"Start. Recording." Her words are heavy and thick with malice, and he can see bloodlust in her soulless eyes. She's his age for God's sake; how is she someone who tortures people for a living?

He has no choice though, and with every sob that escapes Rachel's throat, Finn feels a shred of humanity dissolve and fade away forever.

The blonde makes him tie Rachel to a chair, and all the while she stares at him, terrified out of her mind, and there's nothing he can do, nothing.

Except apologise, and he whispers it as he binds her hands and binds her feet, and then he's holding the camera, and the blonde is telling him to start recording.

He wants to look away and be sick and get the fuck out, but his eyes are fixed on Rachel's, and neither of them look away. Even when the first incision is made, and Rachel's screams echo through the building, they still stare at each other. Finn's seen some horrible things, has lived through so much crap, but this kills him, legitimately kills him, because she doesn't deserve any of this.

The blonde girl is enjoying it, he can tell, and when Rachel fights her bonds and tries to get free, the stranger slaps her, right across the face, and Finn snaps. Without thinking, he grabs the camera and hits it across the back of Q03's head. He doesn't want to hurt her (he doesn't want to hurt anyone), but she can't do this, and her being unconscious is the only way he can stop her.

Rachel screams again, this time because the blonde is passed out on the floor, the scalpel still in her hand, and Finn has to press a numb finger to her lips.

"I'll wrap your wounds when I get rid of her."

Fear flashes in her eyes. "You're not going to kill her, are you?"

Truthfully? The thought never end crossed his mind.

"No," he says honestly, "I'm not that person."

He hates to see her cry, and he'll fix this, once the girl is out of the way. He unties Rachel and she practically topples off the chair and crumples up like an injured kitten, and he uses the rope to tie up the blonde; he doesn't know her real name.

He also doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. Things are never simple, and he's just knocked out one of the boss's workers, a small girl no less, but there isn't time for regret. Checking that he's alone, Finn drags her into the hallway, and spots the tiny, unused janitorial closet at the end of the building.

This isn't going to work. She'll wake up, she'll make noises, Puck will he suspicious that she's disappeared.

It's too late, it's too late. He picks her up, throws her over his shoulder and places her in the closet with a couple of mouse skeletons and some dangerous looking chemical bottles, and he just locks her in like he's casually putting away a mop.

He sprints the short distance to Rachel's room, and in his panic, Finn realises he left the door open.  
>She's still in there though, whimpering in pain, and he puts his limited first aid knowledge to good use (which includes him covering her arms in band aids).<p>

"I'm sorry," he tells her over and over, until the words don't sound like words at all, but a mixture of lies and pain and msorrymsorrymsorry.

He has to leave her, and she understands, but he sees the hurt in her eyes, and he wonders how long she can take this.

He stumbles into the room where they all practically live to find Puck still on the phone.

"How bad was it?" asks Brittany gently, and Finn shakes his head; it was too bad.

"You're in too deep Finny." Santana takes a puff of her cigar (where the hell did she get that?) while giving him a judgemental stare.

"You think I don't know that?"

"It's cute," Brittany sighs, and Finn doesn't respond, but waits on Puck, who hangs up the phone.

"Q girl checks out. She tortured her yet?"

It scares Finn that his best friend doesn't even flinch at the idea. It scares him, because they shouldn't be adapting to this scenario so easily; they're growing up too fast, and already Puck is being blasé about an innocent girl being tortured.

"Yeah," he says weakly. "The blonde's already gone."

Puck narrows his eyes. "What do you mean gone?"

"She finished up so she left."

Puck says nothing else, and the four of them play strip poker, except Finn refuses to strip, Brittany doesn't understand the rules, and Santana keeps cheating so that Puck's the first one to be naked. They're laughing so hard and talking so loud that no one but Finn can hear banging and cries for help and violent threats.

He has a feeling he'll hear it in his sleep.

**Glee!**

Carole sits in her husband's old recliner (the only thing left of Chris), a phone clutched tightly in her hand. She's shaking like a leaf and her skin is pale and laced with sweat, and she's terrified. She knows she's not imagining the police car that has passed her house five times in the past half hour, and whenever she tries to get a look at what they're doing, the vehicle disappears until she pretends not to be watching.

"_Hi, this is Burt Hummel."_

"B-Burt? It's Carole, Carole Hudson."

"_Oh hey Carole, is everything okay? You sound kind of freaked out."_

She clings to the phone like it's her last lifeline, and as she stares at the photo in her hand of her beloved son, she lets out a silent sob. "No, not really, I'm so alone and scared and, and..."

_"I'm coming to pick you up."_

There's a knock on the door that makes her blood run cold, and before she can tell Burt she's in trouble, three police officers barge their way in, and she's suddenly thrust into their car without a word. They drive off, Carole Hudson in custody, and Mike Chang watches from his vantage point before he calls Noah Puckerman.

**Glee!**

Finn wakes up extra early using the alarm clock his mom gave him a few years ago. It's a Spiderman one that sometimes feels like not working, but at five in the morning, it thankfully wakes him up, and he's about to sneak out of the room, away from Santana, Brittany and Puck, when he notices that his best friend isn't there. He freezes and panics and wonders if he's already found the blonde girl, but not a minute later, Puck stumbles back into the room and dives into his sleeping bag.

"Had to piss," he mutters, and Finn's erratic heartbeat manages to slow down to its usual, slightly frantic rhythm. What the hell should he do now? He can't keep the girl locked up forever, but if he lets her go, he's dead, and so is Rachel.

He falls asleep before he has the chance to come up with a solution.

**Glee!**

"Oh my God oh my God oh my _God!_"

Finn reluctantly opens an eye to witness Santana running around like a headless chicken while Brittany simply stands there, confused, and Puck looks pretty hacked off.

"Shut the hell up and start from the beginning."

Finn sits up groggily and rubs his eyes and shoulder and neck and then his blood runs cold when he remembers about the blonde girl.

"I think you have _rats!_" moans Santana, and Brittany claps eagerly.

"I love animals!"

Puck snorts and rolls up his sleeping bag, shoving it in the corner of the room with the rest of their minimal junk. "S'not my problem."

"What makes you think that?" ventures Finn, trying to keep his cool, but his voice is shaky and suspicious, even if no one picks up on it.

"I can hear banging or squeaking or something in the closet down the hallway and God, I _hate_ rats!" She shudders, and Brittany places a comforting arm around her friend while Finn practically has a heart attack there and then. "Anything else I can handle, but not fucking rats."

Damn it damn it damn it. "I'll take care of it," he says weakly, but Puck shakes his head with a shallow laugh.

"Don't bother; these two are leaving today and I don't give a shit about rats."

"I don't want to go." Everyone stares at Brittany, whose eyes are wide with honesty. The whole blonde girl mess aside, Finn kinda doesn't want them to go either. Sure, they're not the best of friends, but their company helps to keep him and Puck sane, and he knows it won't be the same when they're gone.

"Well I do." Santana shrugs and flips the finger at Puck, who mirrors her body language and gesture almost instantly. "You two are bores, this place gives me the creeps, and I don't wanna stick around for when you kill her."

"Kill who?"

She rolls her eyes at Finn, and okay, maybe he's not gonna miss Santana after all, 'cause she's condescending and mean and he feels like she's always judging him. "You that naive? I'm talking about Berry."

"Woah woah woah, hold up Lopez, I've got no idea what the hell you're talking about, and it's still early, so talk slowly."

Glaring at Puck like he's the biggest idiot she's ever known, she throws her hands in the air overdramatically and lets out a hiss. "Fucking hell, you two really are rookies, aren't you? You're not gonna let the girl go."

"Yes we are," Finn huffs, and he pulls himself out of his sleeping bag so he can tower over Santana menacingly (though he has really bad bed hair and he's wearing a Power Rangers shirt, so he's probably as scary as a new born puppy). "Her dads are gonna pay up and then we're gonna release her and-"

"Stop embarrassing yourself!"

"You don't need to shout at them. I don't understand either," whispers Brittany, and Santana just rolls her fucking eyes again, and God, that drives Finn insane.

"Okay, whatever, long story short, even if her precious parents pay the ransom, there's gonna be no way to set her free without you being caught." She waves off Puck when he tries to interrupt, and Brittany stares, doe-eyed and just as confused as Finn. "Think about it. You arrange to drop her off somewhere? They're gonna find you with all of Lima's police forces on your asses. You manage to somehow let her go without harming her? The first thing she's gonna do is report you, and since she knows your name, Finnocence, you shouldn't be too hard to narrow down."

"Fuck you," snarls Puck, and he turns his back on them so he can pour himself some coffee. "You think we're dumb asses? We kidnapped her without any trouble, and we're gonna let her go just as easily with thousands of dollars in our back pockets."

"Don't say I didn't warn you. You'll get the money, and the order will come in to kill her, which will probably screw over lover boy here."

Puck stops what he's doing, and crap, Finn knows what's coming, and he makes a mental note to 'thank' Santana later. "Hold up; the chick knows your name?"

"What's that banging sound?"

He's not sure if the change of subject is a welcome one or not, 'cause Puck's glaring like he's gonna kill Finn, and Brittany's just drawn attention to the fact that there's a strange girl locked up in a closet.

"I'll go check," he says quickly, and he darts out of the room, his heart in his throat and his head a mess because no,_ no_, they're not gonna kill Rachel, they're _not_.

He has to focus on the present though, and even if he has no clue what he's going to do, he rushes down the hallway and reluctantly unlocks the closet door. The banging stops, and taking a deep breath, Finn opens it to see the girl staring up at him, tears down her face.

"Who are you?" she bleats pathetically, and Finn furrows his eyebrows.

"F42, we..." He cocks his head at her. "Do you know where you are?"

"No, but thank you for saving me, I'm claustrophobic." She stands up on shaky legs and stumbles into Finn's open arms, and while she composes herself, he's left to try and piece together whatever happened.

Oh _shit_, she doesn't- He didn't-

"What's your name?"

"Quinn," says the girl in a shaky breath. "Where am I? My head _hurts_."

He hit her so hard that she lost her memory; great.

A smile spreads across Finn's face at the realisation; no, this really is great! He never meant to hurt her, never meant for this to happen, but if she's got amnesia or something, it means she doesn't remember him knocking her out!

"You're- It's hard to explain, but come on, I'll get you some coffee or something." He helps her walk on unsteady feet, and though he's kinda repulsed by the girl (she's beautiful, but she's also deadly and cruel), he pretends like everything is peachy so she might actually believe that.

"What was I doing in there?"

"I dunno," Finn says, lying through his teeth, "but I think you were um, in a car accident. Yeah."

He's never been good at lying, especially not on the spot when the outcome is pretty much life or death. He tried lying to his mom once when he brought home a stray dog, but his lame line of 'my teacher asked me to keep him because it counts towards my grade' didn't fly with his mother, and he doesn't see how this is gonna work out at all.

"A car accident?" says Quinn dumbly, and they're almost at the room where Puck and the girls are situated, and he has to hurry this up.

"Yeah. Someone must have put you in there to make sure you couldn't get hurt anymore."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"I know, but you're alive aren't you? So it must have worked."

He can see how sceptical she is and he doesn't blame her, 'cause that has to be the shittest lie he's ever heard. She was in a car crash so someone hid her in a closet; yeah, _totally_ plausible.

He leads her into some heated argument that's apparently started between Puck and Santana, and they both stop, mid-insult, to stare at Quinn, who is still a little wobbly.

"What the fuck? I thought you said she'd left?"

"She was, I mean did, had, w-whatever." He sucks at lying he sucks he sucks and he knows that Puck's suspicious already, and he really has no clue how to save his own skin.

"I was in a car accident," says Quinn in a weak and tortured voice that takes Finn by surprise. He suddenly feels bad for the girl, but oh, okay, she's playing them to flirt with Puck, it's pretty obvious when he steps back to take a look.

"A car accident? Shit, let me help you sit down and I'll get you some soup or something."

Finn rolls his eyes at his best friend's attempt at chivalry, and though Santana keeps giving him the evil eye, he thinks he might have gotten away with that little situation.

**Glee!**

"This was the boy who kidnapped your friend?"

Mercedes is petrified. She's heard what happens to witnesses in this town, but she has information on Rachel, and she can't let her friend down.

She stares at the photo again, and she recognises his height and awkwardness.

"Yes," she says quietly. "Do you know his name?"

"Finn Hudson," says one of the cops, and Mercedes nods, even if she's never heard of him before.

"Thank you Miss Jones, your contribution will help with our investigation."

A friend drives her home, leaving the police to work into the early hours of the morning again; this is the biggest case they've had in a while.

"Jeff."

"Yeah?" yawns Inspector Yates as he nurses his cold cup of coffee. He needs a refill but he's exhausted.

"The DNA report came back on the girl's bra." One of the younger officers hands him a sheet of paper.

"Is it our girl?"

"No," he says excitedly, too excitedly for 3am, "it's Hudson's blood!"

Inspector Yates swallows his coffee in victory, and almost spits the whole of the cup back up.

"Got you," he whispers; maybe he can actually get some sleep tonight.

**A/N: **Once again I've been blown away by the feedback on this fic, so thank you to everyone who has taken the time to let me know what you think :) Do you know what continues to make me laugh every time? Apparently, a lot of people would like to be kidnapped by Finn; ah, young love eh? ;D Thank you as always, and I hope this chapter didn't disappoint!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: There are a few instances of strong language, violence and torture scenes in this chapter; yay! **

_Our dreams assured, and we all  
>Will sleep well, sleep well <em>

She rocks back and forth, back and forth, back and forth until she gets dizzy and throws up in the sorry excuse for a toilet. She can't live like this anymore. She's been in this cell for an entire week, and yet still her parents have done nothing to save her, and that stings as much as the various cuts across her arm.

Rachel stares down blindly at the band aids that do little to offer her comfort, and though she tries to smile at the dinosaurs that decorate said band aids, all she gets in response are hot, angry tears. She wants to go _home_. She wants Finn to set her free so they can run away together and though she's known him for such a short amount of time, she's never wanted anything so much before.

And yet she's slowly understanding that maybe it won't ever happen; Finn is still the bad guy, and she can't get mixed up with him anymore.

She doesn't know what he did with the blonde girl who hurt her, and though he said he wouldn't kill her, she fears for the worst; what if he _had_ to murder her?

The word murder makes her throw up again, and she clutches her stomach and sways to and fro as she lets frantic sobs engulf her body. She misses normality and she wants to go _home_.

**Glee!**

Santana and Brittany leave during the night. They don't say goodbye, don't say that they're going to miss Finn and Puck, but they simply leave a note that says 'See ya losers', and then that's that, it's just the two of them again.

Except it's not. Quinn, still not able to remember anything, is staying with them for no fucking reason, and though Finn keeps trying to talk sense into him, Puck won't listen to anything. He's got it in his head that he has to help this girl, and even though Finn's warned him that she's dangerous and nothing but trouble, he's adamant that he's gonna help.

He leaves him to it. He hasn't had the chance to check on Rachel since the day before, when Quinn messed her up so badly, and if he can be honest, he's terrified that she's gonna hate him.

He knocks three times on the door, and when he gets no reply, he lets himself in and winces at the smell; she's been puking, and he doesn't think that's a good sign. He sees her, curled around the toilet, her eyes red and her cheeks red and her arms covered in band aids, and for a brief moment, Finn considers just letting her go.

But he can't be selfish, and if he doesn't go through with this, his mom will be in trouble, they both will.

"Rachel."

She looks up, her eyes conflicted, filled with both affection and fear, and he holds up his hands so she knows he's not there to hurt her.

"What do you want?" she asks, her voice raspy, and he takes a deep breath so he doesn't blow this.

"Just seeing how you were."

"I'm alive, so you can go now."

"Rach-"

"No," she snaps, and he takes a step back as she glares at him, really glares at him, and the hair on the back of his neck stands up. "I know what you're going to say, that it's not your fault, and yet you're still letting this happen to me."

He can't really argue with that when it's true. "I know," he says quietly, and he thought she understood. Surely, if she was in his position, she'd do the same thing? "I'm sorry, I-"

"I don't want to hear it." She wipes her mouth on the back of her hand and winces as she leans up against the wall, her dingy, worn blanket shaking as her body shivers, her eyes tired and lifeless. "I don't want you to talk to me anymore, unless it's to tell me you're setting me free."

Finn's stomach twists and he's not sure if it's the smell in the room or her words that are making him want to throw up himself. "You don't mean that... do you?"

She's always been out of his league, this perfect girl, because she's beautiful and intelligent and kind and _rich_, and Finn's a talentless, penniless _loser_. Maybe it's that Stockholm thing again; maybe she was just playing him to try and get away.

"I do," she says firmly, and he doesn't see anything in her expression apart from hatred and a cold, uncaring stare.

He stumbles out of the room, barely having enough time to lock the door behind him before he dry heaves. Tears sting in his eyes and his head is spinning and fucking hell, what the hell is he doing? He's kidnapped an innocent girl, he's _kissed_ her more than once, and when the police catch up with him, he's gonna rot in jail for being so pathetic.

He can hear Puck and Quinn laughing and he heaves again.

**Glee!**

She hates herself like never before. Being Rachel Berry is never an easy task, especially when some people refuse to accept her immense talent and star potential, but there are very rarely any moments in her life when she's resorted to hating the person she is.

When she was seven, her dads had insisted that her cat and hamster wouldn't get along because the two of them were too different, and to try and prove them wrong, she'd spent an hour lecturing both animals on acceptance within animal society. Once she was sure she was going to be victorious, she'd invited her dads into her bedroom, and the three of them had watched as Maria ate Tony the hamster.

She'd hated herself for a whole week after that, until her daddy had placated her with a lie of 'oh sweetie, of course Maria loved Tony; West Side Story was a tragedy too!'. Then she'd simply moved on when she was given a new hamster, and the whole incident was forgotten.

This though? This is so much worse on hundreds of different levels. Stuck between the same four walls, Rachel doesn't remember who she is anymore.

She entered believing that her parents loved her more than anything in the world, but if that were true, they would have rescued her by now.

She entered believing that she could survive anything, but if that were true, she wouldn't be preparing herself to drop dead at any minute at being confined for so long (a dramatic demise, which she could appreciate).

She entered believing that she was a good person, if not the best, but if that were true, she wouldn't have broken Finn's heart.

Oh no, she's not naive enough to think that Finn loves her, but she knows enough of people that he really does care for her (though that might well be past tense now). She's never had to play such a difficult role before, even in musical productions at Carmel. Demanding that he never speaks to her again? Speaking those words was like having her heart ripped out in front of her, but she has to look out for herself, even if that's completely selfish and not at all romantic, and she thinks that it may have worked. Finn looked suitably devastated, she cried for hours on end, and since that incident (how many hours have passed since then? She can't tell), Finn hasn't visited her once.

She misses his kisses though. She knows that to anyone on the outside, this 'relationship' would appear falsified and morally wrong, but she can't explain the way that Finn makes her feel. Maybe it's because he's the only person she can seek comfort and safety in while she's here, or maybe it's because she's never had a real boyfriend before, but he gives her hope that things will actually turn out okay, and when he smiles, she can imagine hugging him, kissing him, marrying him, making love to him-

She tries to turn off her emotions as she stares down at the stale piece of bread that Puck brought in an hour ago (he never forgets to wear his mask), but even in the food, she feels despair. Finn cooked her soup and noodles and even grilled cheese (she's had to abandon her vegan oath for now), but she knows full well that she'll be getting much of the same as this bread, now that Puck's back in charge of her diet.

That's good though; it means Finn believes her, and she tries not to be upset that he isn't fighting more for this, whatever they have.

She prods the dinosaur band aids until she cries, and she doesn't stop crying until she falls asleep.

**Glee!**

"_Well, where is it?"_

"Where's what, sir?"

Finn drinks slowly from a glass of scotch that Puck somehow managed to obtain, and even though the vile stuff burns his tongue and makes his throat ache, he continues to sip at it in the hope that he can get hammered, just to forget it all for one night.

He's never been a heavy drinker though, and if this is all they've got, he thinks he'll stick with water instead.

"_Don't play dumb with me P27. I sent Q03 there to torture Berry and send me evidence of that, and so far I've received nothing at fucking all!"_

Puck looks worriedly over at Finn, and Finn bites his lip and shrugs; he can't let on about what he knows, so he pretends to be interested in his fingernails, which he's bitten down too short.

"There was a bit of an uh, accident, boss."

"_What kind of accident?"_

"Qui- Q03 recorded herself hurting the girl and left the base, but then she crashed her car and the video was ruined and she uh, she's got amnesia or something,"

Finn swallows the rest of the glass in one gulp because he's gonna get found out he's gonna get found out how can he not get found out?

"_...I see. Tell her she's fired."_

The girl in question, who's been reading a bible for the past hour, a fucking bible, looks up, eyes wide, and her jaw drops. She'd probably more pissed and bitchy if she could remember what her job was, but Finn says nothing, and she just looks kinda stunned.

"Okay sir. Anything else?"

"_Are you a fucking idiot? Of course there's something else. Fucking hell."_

Puck looks just as freaked as Finn, and they stare at each other, and swearing on his life, Finn's sure that their hearts are racing to the same beat.

"_I want you to get me that video."_

"But sir, it got destroyed and-"

"_I'm not a fucking moron; I heard you the first time!"_

No no no no no no _no_, no, Finn knows what this means, he knows what the guys gonna say and they can't, they _won't_, they're out of their depth and he wants to go home to his mom so she can kiss his cheek and tell him that they'll be okay.

"_Get F42 to hurt Berry, and I want you to record it and send it to me by tomorrow, you hear? No more excuses, no more bullshit; I need that video."_

He hangs up before he gets to hear Finn call him a c-u-next-Tuesday (it's his first time using that particular word as it happens). There's no goddamn way they're torturing Rachel _again,_ and there's no way that he's gonna be the one to do it.

He knows Puck will understand. His crush and his feelings and all that kind of stuff doesn't matter 'cause Puck's not heartless, he won't do this either.

"Wanna get it over with?"

Being betrayed by your best friend feels like getting stabbed in the chest by a shard of ice, and it freezes his blood and stops his heart and forces out a confused, disbelieving tear.

"Puck.

"It's either that or after dinner, but then you'll probably upchuck like you always do."

"Puck."

"I dunno how long we're supposed to do it for; enough to make her cry I guess."

Finn's never punched his friend before, and he detests the way his fingers crack against Puck's cheek. His knuckles are sore and yeah, he's sure he's gonna throw up at any minute, and the worst thing? Puck doesn't even fight back, and he _always_ fights back. Out of the two of them, he's the one who takes no prisoners, the one who holds his own and isn't afraid to look after himself.

This time though? He just remains on the floor, knocked over by the power of Finn's throw, and he looks up at his friend/honorary brother with complete and utter sadness and disbelief, and before he knows it, the two of them are crying their eyes out like little kids who have been caught chewing gum in class. Puck's tears are quick and subtle (he just makes a lot of sniffling noises while he presses a hand to his cheek), and Finn's are big, blubbering sobs that he can't hold back any longer. They both forget (or don't care) that Quinn is in the room, 'cause it's just them, like it always has been.

"Please, Puck, we can't hurt her," Finn says, pleading, begging (he'll get down on his knees if he has to).

"We can't, but we have to." Puck's voice is choked up and guarded, and it's obvious just how frightened he is. "You love her, you want her, whatever, it doesn't matter; we have to do this."

"Can't we just call this whole thing off?"

It's the dumbest thing he's ever suggested, he knows that as soon as the words form in his head and flow from his lips, but it doesn't make it any less optimistic. He just wants to forget that this ever happened, and yeah, going back to beating up strangers might be okay now they've experienced this kind of work.

"There's something I haven't told you." Puck now looks guilty when Finn's the guilty one, and really, it couldn't get much worse, so he doesn't really brace himself for the news. "Your mom's been taken into police custody 'cause they know you're involved."

Oh.

Oh.

They know, huh? They have his mom, huh?

"When-"

"Chang called early this morning."

Finn wishes he'd hit the kid harder. "I'm not hurting Rachel."

"I'm not risking this entire thing 'cause you have a conscience."

Finn stands up and kicks Puck's shin as hard as he can, and he doubles over in pain, more tears spilling from his eyes. "Fucking hell, you stupid- What did you do that for?"

"You didn't tell me my mom was in jail. Don't you care? Whatever, at least it's not your precious mother."

"That's why I'm doing this!" yells Puck. His voice cracks and his eyes widen in a slightly hysterical, crazed way, and Finn gulps and swallows an uncomfortable lump. "If we don't do this, my mom will get kicked out of the house with Sarah, and that's it, we'll be screwed, we'll have nothing." He stands up, and out of nowhere, Quinn appears to act as a support as he wobbles on the spot. "You care for this dumb hostage more than your own mother?"

What sort of a question is that?

He knows he's supposed to answer no, that he's supposed to see the light and become this hardened kidnapper who doesn't give a shit about roughing up his hostage, but Finn doesn't have an epiphany moment. He loves his mom, but he can't compromise another person he cares for to save her.

"Touch her and I'll kill you," he says calmly, and of course he doesn't mean it, not really. He catches spiders and lets them out of the house instead of killing them, and he once went hunting and refused to even point a gun at a rabbit, so there's no chance of him murdering his best friend; he's just trying to bring the point home though, and for a second, Puck smiles, and Quinn smiles too, and then one of them punches him in the stomach and everything goes black.

**Glee!**

There's a knock on the door, and Rachel sits up with a smile, because Finn's back, he's here to apologise again, and this time she'll tell him that it was all an act because she's scared and in pain, and then he'll save her, he will, she knows he will.

It's not Finn that walks into the room though, it's the masked Puck and the blonde girl, and Rachel recoils and hides behind the toilet as best she can, even if it's not going to provide her with much protection. The only saving grace of the situation is that the girl is still alive, but she knew all along that Finn doesn't have it in him to kill anyone.

"Co-operate and this'll hurt a lot less."

Puck grabs her by the elbow and drags her across the floor, and he holds her in place while his assistant ties her to a chair. No, please no, they can't be doing this again, they surely can't be here to hurt her, but the blonde holds up a small camera, and Rachel is so close to passing out that she can see darkness engulf her eyes.

Until she's slapped out of it.

"I need you awake to feel it; make sure you show your daddies that you're in lots of pain."

There's no scalpel this time, but Puck holds a kitchen knife in his hand, and Rachel screams Finn's name as the metal scratches her skin.

**Glee!**

Throb throb throb throb.

His head is throbbing an insane amount, and wow, okay, his stomach is sore too, and holy crap, it's dark and everything aches, and Finn sits there, blinking over and over to try and remember where he is and why he's in so much pain.

He hears his name echoing around him, and the hair on the back of his neck stands up as he recognises the voice and the reason for its despair; Puck's hurting Rachel, and he has to stop him, he has to.

He looks around the enclosed space and what do you know, he's in the same closet he locked that Quinn girl in. He slams his feet against the door, and though it shakes a little on his hinges, it doesn't open, and so he tries again and again and again and nothing happens, nothing happens at all, and the knob won't move and he's locked inside a closet while the girl he loves is being tortured.

He loves her? That's new information, but he doesn't have enough time to dwell on that, and he instead focuses on kicking the door repeatedly, trying to coax it into giving way.

She screams again and it pains him to his very core because none of this should be happening, and he promised to look after her on the very first day they met.

He's a failure in more ways than one. His mom's in jail, his best friend has turned against him, and the person he loves is being tortured while he just sits in a closet and casually listens with the mops and brooms stacked up beside him.

He rubs his stomach in a circular motion while he kicks kicks kicks the door, and damn, Puck can really throw a good punch (is it possible he has internal bleeding?).

The screams stop, and after he manages to tune out the frantic thud of his heart in his ears, Finn can hear some kind of conversation, and then the door is opened and he ungracefully stumbles out.

"All done," says Puck, and though he may have just got what he wanted, it's come at a terrible cost, and Finn can see the bland, robot-like look in his eyes; Quinn just smirks like she's just been to see a show.

He doesn't ask permission to go and tend to Rachel, and neither of them protest when he shoots into the room to help her. He doesn't know what to expect, but whatever it is, it isn't that.

Sitting on a chair, completely upright and still, Rachel stares at the wall in front of her, a tear running down her cheek, and she doesn't move, not even when Finn kneels down beside her and takes her hands. Her eyes are glazed over and she just stares into space like she's not even there, and Jesus Christ, just look at her.

Her skin is deathly pale and she's coated in a thin layer of sweat that sits on the various cuts and newly forming bruises that are peppered across her skin.

"I'm going to get you out of here," he whispers, and at that admission, her whole body slumps, and she just falls out of the chair and crumples against him while her tears seep into his sweater and her tiny fists cling to him like he's her lifeline. "I promise Rachel, I'm going to get you out of here."

**A/N: **Again, I'd just like to stress that Puck isn't that bad guy haha. I know it's coming across that way, but the next chapter should hopefully prove that he isn't (and everything's going to change...) Oh, and while I remember, to the reviewer who asked if Santana and Brittany could stick around, I promise that this isn't the last you'll see of them :)

Thoughts? Feelings? Any general comments? Don't forget to let me know, and thanks for the feedback so far! (Also, if you're feeling extra charitable, I uploaded a one-shot on Wednesday based on the Finchel tyre shop scenes in case you're interested)

Thanks as always!


	7. Chapter 7

_I watch you spin around in your highest heels  
>You are the best one of the best ones <em>

He needs to come up with a plan, but plans aren't really his strong suit (Puck's usually the one that does the thinking, but he's usually the man that does everything else too). He thinks about asking Rachel, but she keeps falling in and out of consciousness, and he's trying to stay as calm as he can (she shouldn't be doing that, he knows that much, but until he gets her out, there's nothing he can do).

So he sits with her and strokes her hair, and whispers condoling words into her ears as she falls asleep. He doesn't move, but holds her close to him, hoping that he'll be able to think of something in the meantime.

An hour passes before she wakes, and he runs a careful finger across her cheek as he gives her a sad smile. "I need to go and make up an excuse for why I'm in here, okay?" Rachel doesn't respond, and only lulls her head against him as she lets out a pained whimper, and he has to take that as a yes. "I'm gonna go, but Rachel, I promise I'll be back."

"I know you will," she breathes, and he holds her tight and kisses her hair. "It hurts, Finn."

"I know baby." He has to go, no matter how much he wants to stay, 'cause he has to sort things out with Puck to keep her safe. As carefully as he can, Finn picks her up and lifts her onto the sorry excuse for a mattress in the room. He wants to tell her everything will be okay, except he has no idea if it's true.

"See you soon Rach." And through his tears, and through hers too, he can see her smile briefly before she falls asleep.

He misses Brittany and Santana for whatever reason, and he thinks that if they were still around, they'd be able to make Puck see sense. Now that Quinn's in the picture, he's different somehow, as if she's goading him to embrace his dark side or whatever.

Finn locks the door behind him in second nature before he readies himself for whatever's coming. It's gotta be pretty obvious that he's crossed the 'don't fall for your fucking hostage' line, but either way, he needs to clear the air and set some ground rules (not that he has any authority whatsoever over Puck).

He stumbles into the room where they sit and talk and sleep and eat, and it only just dawns on him how much pain he's in after their little stunt.

He walks in on Puck laughing with Quinn (he feels some kind of victory when he sees him sporting a black eye), and he doesn't know where to start, or even to finish.

"What the fuck has gotten into you, man?"

Those are Puck's words, not his, and it catches him off guard before he gets the chance to go on his own offensive.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Quinn smirks at Puck in an unnecessarily smug way, and Finn balls his hands into fits. She may have conveniently forgotten, but this girl still tortured Rachel, and still did so with a frickin' smile on her face, so he doesn't trust her, not one bit.

"When did you get all weird about chicks?"

"Uh..." He shakes his head and licks his lips 'cause he's not sure how to respond to that. Puck gives him an incredulous look that clearly says 'what happened to my brother?', and he doesn't know how to respond to that either.

"For as long as I've known you, you've never given a crap about girls, and not even that hot one who was on the cheerleading squad who wanted you."

He faintly remembers her, the feisty blonde who'd left an unwanted hickey on his neck, and he faintly remembers her slapping him when he refused to take her out to Breadstix.

"What's your point?"

Puck stands up so they're sort of eye to eye (the dude's always been shorter). "My point, Hudson, is that you've managed to go all this time without a chick, showing no interest at anyone who flashed you a bit of flesh, and the _one_ fucking girl you can't touch turns out to be your Achilles' heel or something!"

Finn's never understood that saying (he can't remember which guy Achilles is; is he the one who had a flying horse?), but he knows what Puck's trying to say, and yeah, it kinda looks bad/pretty terrible in every way. Still, it's not like he volunteered to fall for Rachel just to spite everyone.

"I still don't get your point!" He throws his arms in the air and regrets it instantly when his stomach clenches uncomfortably.

"My point," Puck says slowly, "is that there must be a reason you're acting like this. I get that you have trouble with some of the shit we do, but we do it for a reason, to keep our families safe, and even you should be able to get over this hero crap long enough for us to get our money."

"I know, I _know_ but... I love her."

"Dude." Puck shakes his head and has the balls to laugh, but none of this is a laughing matter.

"I need to help her, and we can't hurt her anymore."

Quinn's about to protest when they hear yells coming from Rachel's room, and fuck fuck fuck, what if she's dying or something? He doesn't say anything as he runs away and barges in, and Finn half expects her to be surrounded by a pool of her own blood. Instead, though she looks extremely pale and shaky, she seems to be okay.

"I want to talk to Puck," she says quietly and deliberately, like she's having a hard time concentrating on words; he almost asks her to repeat it because he can't have heard her right.

"P-Puck? Why?"

"It'll be easier if he's here, and then I can talk to you both." She attempts to stand up but topples over weakly, and in an instant, Finn's by her side to lift her back onto the mattress.

"Okay," he whispers, and he presses a brief kiss to her hair. "I'll do my best."

"I know you will." She gives him a brief smile while he wonders if that's her new catch phrase, and then her eyes slowly close, and Finn leaves with an insanely jealous, uncomfortable tug in his stomach.

"What'd she want?"

"You."

Puck's eyes widen at the same time that Quinn's narrow, and neither of them say anything for a while.

"How exactly?"

"She wants to talk to you." He says it through gritted teeth 'cause this guy just _tortured _her, and now she wants to sit and talk like best buds?

"Might as well listen to what she has to say." Puck stands up and cracks his knuckles in a way that makes Finn wince, and grabbing his ski mask thing, he makes his way to the room and pushes the door open, Quinn and Finn close behind.

Rachel opens her eyes and sucks in a painful breath before she nods to herself. "Just Finn and Puck, please."

He's not sure who looks angrier. Quinn's glaring in an unashamedly malicious way and Puck's neck vein is fit to burst at the realisation that Rachel knows his name; oops.

"No, I demand that-"

"Go, Q."

She doesn't protest when Puck uses his 'fuck with me and you'll regret it' voice, but she shoots Finn a deadly glare and closes the door behind them, leaving the two boys staring down at Rachel, who's managed to sit up on the mattress.

"There's a problem with the ransom, isn't there?"

"None of your business," snarls Puck, but Finn nods anyway.

"Yeah, there is."

That gets him a numbing punch on the arm. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Thank you Finn," Rachel says weakly, and she flashes him a split second smile that gives him butterflies. "Care to enlighten me as to how much your boss is trying to acquire?"

"Three-"

"Can it Hudson!"

Puck notices his slip at the same time as Rachel, and giving him credit, he does look suitably mortified.

"Finn Hudson," she says slowly, and then she smiles again, "it suits you. Do you have a middle name?"

"No, he-"

"Christopher."

"_Dude!"_

"I trust her." He flashes her a grin. "He's asking for three million."

Puck hangs his head in his hands, sure that they're screwed. The girl knows everything and there's pretty much zero hope for them now.

"Three million? I understand why I've been here so long."

"Because your parents are tight asses?" Puck quips, and even though she's in pain, she manages to roll her eyes.

"Language, please. No, it's nothing of the sort, and I have to say, I'm a little relieved that they haven't forgotten about me."

"Rach?" Finn offers softly, and she sighs to herself.

"They don't have that sort of capital available, not anymore, and at least not in an accessible way; most of it is tied up in property and investments."

Puck and Finn stare at each other in shock, and not just because Rachel uses a lot of big words; what the hell is she going on about?

"What does that mean, Berry?"

"Without getting into the unpleasant specifics, my daddy's good for nothing father appeared one day to forgive his son for 'living in homosexual sin and disgrace'." Disdain seeps from every syllable and Finn nods, though he's not sure why.

"I don't wanna know your fuckin' life story."

"_Language," _she chastises again, and she rolls her eyes once more before looking to Finn. "Your best friend is very uncivilised."

"I oughta-"

Rachel manages a grin while Finn stifles a laugh, and for the first time, Puck loosens up a little and releases a snort. "Alright, whatever, carry on."

"What's the magic word?" she teases, and God, she's so amazing, Finn can't get over that.

"Bite me."

"Getting warmer."

"Fine; _please." _ He shoots Finn a glare when he can't stop himself from laughing, but then Rachel's talking again so the two stay quiet, even if Puck wants to curse his best friend out.

"My grandpa only came back to get money from my family, and though my dad was sceptical about the man's new found acceptance, oh, my daddy was so _happy_ and oblivious to his father's falsified intentions." She looks down sadly at her hands, and Finn knows where this is going. "He wormed his way into the heart of our family, and before we knew it, he was gone, and he'd somehow managed to empty my daddy's bank account."

"How much?" croaks Puck, and Finn unconsciously licks his dry lips in anticipation.

"Five million dollars," Rachel says, not even blinking at the intense amount. "Luckily, my dad had a separate account for emergencies that contained enough to keep us comfortable, but we're not as wealthy as we once were."

"Shit," breathes Puck, and yeah, shit indeed, this changes _everything_.

"I have a proposition though," she squeaks, and both boys are caught off guard; there's more? "Even if my parents could pay the ransom amount, the two of you would receive a mere fraction of this, right?"

Puck falters. "Y-yeah, two hundred thousand, split down the middle."

"Rachel, where is this going?"

She rubs anxiously at her scratch covered arms before she purses her lips. "What if we could make a deal? You could release me for a smaller amount than what your boss is asking, but it would mean more money for the two of you."

_What?_

"I don't get it," Finn admits, and instead of looking frustrated or annoyed or something, Rachel just smiles kindly at him.

"Your boss is making you the do the dirty work, putting you in constant danger, and yet you're happy to take a small amount of the profit?" She looks to Puck. "Did your boss happen to say if my dads offered a lower amount?"

"No."

"Yeah!" Finn says eagerly. "He did; I talked to him, and he said they could spare one million dollars."

"That's more realistic," she says with a nod. "That would mean half a million for the both of you, and I promise not to turn you in."

Puck's jaw hits the ground, though whether it's at the money or the security, Finn doesn't know. "You're serious? You're willing to work with us, get us more money _and_ protect us from the cops? Why?"

She turns to Finn, the widest smile he's ever seen on her face, and that's why, _he's_ why, and God, he-

"I love you," he blurts out, and her smile gets _even_ wider.

"I love you too Finn."

Puck smacks a hand to his forehead in exasperation. "Hold up, hold up."

If the guy wasn't in the room, Finn would have jumped her bones there and then, but he has to be content with grinning like a loser instead.

"Yes?"

"I just tortured you, and Finn hurt you the other day... Am I supposed to believe that it doesn't bother you, and that we're allowed to trust you?"

She furrows her brow and looks to Finn for help. "Finn didn't hurt me, the blonde girl did."

"No, not that, I'm talking about the bra."

Thump thump thump thump; his heart is so loud in his ears that he's surprised that Puck and Rachel can't hear it.

"The bra?"

"Well yeah, he made you bleed on your goddamn bra; get with the program."

"Um, no, he didn't."

Two pairs of eyes bore into him, but it's not like it's a big deal, is it? He just did it so he wouldn't have to hurt Rachel.

"Actually man, I just... I cut myself and uh, put my blood on the bra."

It's Rachel's cry of 'Finn!' that alerts him and makes him duck before Puck's fist can collide with his nose. "You fucking idiot!" he screeches, and God, why is he so pissed?

"I didn't want to hurt her! I don't-"

"They'll know it's yours," Rachel whispers, and silent tears stream down her cheeks.

"W-what?"

"DNA you dumbass!"

It clicks at once, and Finn pukes there and then (though considering he hasn't eaten properly in days, only bile stings the back of his throat).

He's a moron; how could he not have thought of that?

The more he thinks about it, the more obvious it becomes, and holy crap, he's such an _idiot_.

"W-wait, don't they need a sample from me already or something? I-I've never been in trouble with the police before, so it's not as if they have me on record... right?"

Rachel sniffs, though manages a nod. "That's true but... you should have just let me it; I wouldn't have judged you."

"Pansy assed-"

Finn swings at Puck but purposefully misses (he just needs to make a point, that's all).

"Either way, you two need to-"

"_No_..."

Cut off midsentence, Rachel's eyes widen in fear. "Finn, what is it?"

"My mom," he chokes out, and Puck looks to Rachel for some sort of help, but she doesn't know what's wrong either. "You said they took my mom into custody. What if... What if they compare the DNA or something? Won't it be similar? Like, won't they know we're related?"

Puck grabs the only chair in the room and slumps down onto it as he holds his head. "Fucking hell, I never thought of that."

"You need to make a decision and fast," Rachel says quickly, and she gives Finn a sympathetic look, one that says 'we'll talk about your mother later'. "There's no way my dads can offer more than one million in exchange for me, and it seems your boss is getting desperate." She glances briefly down at her arms, and Finn sees Puck gulp in response. "If they have associated you with the abduction, Finn, it means your time is limited anyway." She sucks in a breath timidly. "I want to see your face, Puck. You can trust me, and I don't like it when you wear that."

Finn expects him to protest and tell her to get lost (or possibly something a little more crude), but after only hesitating for a second, he pulls the mask away from his face, avoiding Rachel's inquisitive gaze. She says nothing (why would she?) and simply nods.

"Thank you. So, what do you say?"

The two best friends glance at each other, and she's right, she is. Half a million each... That would get them out of Lima and set them up comfortably, and she's gonna protect them (Puck's not so sure but Finn doesn't doubt her at all).

"You're okay with me walking free, after the shit I've done to you?"

Rachel shrugs with a tiny smile. "You care a lot about your family, which is commendable."

He opens and closes his mouth, and somehow at this knowledge, his expression softens slightly. "Things have been rough, and-"

"It's okay," she promises. "I understand, and we all do things we regret. I once sent a girl to a crack house because I was threatened by her singing talent."

Finn laughs while Puck manages a proud smirk, and he nods. "Deal, Berry."

"What about the blonde girl?" Her smile fades at the same time that Finn's does. "I don't trust her, and I'm worried that she might betray you both."

"Quinn's fine," Puck says firmly, as if he doesn't want anyone to challenge him, "I can vouch for her."

"You've known her for five minutes."

"And you've known Berry for less than a week, yet you've already declared your love!" Puck grits his teeth. "If we're doing this, Q is in on it too, and she can share some of my half."

Finn ignores his friend because Rachel looks alarmingly weak again, and knowing that they're really going to do this, he can take her into the other room so she can have something to eat. He carefully picks her up, and she instantly rests her head against his chest with a soft sigh, and yeah, he's not mistaken, he loves her. It doesn't matter that he doesn't know her favourite colour, or if she's allergic to anything, or if she's ever broken any bones; these are all things he's excited about learning, and he loves her heart, so the rest will come with time (if they can make it out of this thing alive).

"I'll make you some soup," he whispers in her ear, and she smiles appreciatively and makes a cute snuffly noise.

"Thank you Finn." They have a first aid kit in their living room/bedroom/everything, and when she's eaten, he'll try and tend to her wounds again.

Quinn unsurprisingly goes crazy when she sees him holding Rachel, and she grabs the nearest thing to her, which happens to be Finn's favourite plastic Lion King plate (he's a sap, okay? He brought it with him for sentimental reasons), and holds it in the air menacingly.

"What is she doing in here? Puck, Finn has the girl, he has Berry!"

Puck follows him in and Finn watches as he gives her one of his many patented looks; this one, with a slightly menacing furrow of his eyebrows, means 'bitch please, don't you know I have this all under control?' Quinn is new though, and she clearly doesn't understand the silence because she throws the plate at Rachel, and Finn ducks in response. Instead of hitting her, it bounces off his cheek and fuck, that hurts more than you'd think.

"Will you just calm down a minute? Ow, that really kills." He regrets saying that as soon as Rachel gives him her own look, and roughly translates it means 'I was tortured for the second time today, and you're complaining because a plastic plate hit your cheek?' He sits down, Rachel in his lap, and kisses her in response, and that look melts away until it becomes one of pleasure, and Finn easily tunes out the mad shrieking of Quinn in the background.

"Alright you two, get a room, we have work to do."

Reluctantly they both pull away, their cheeks flushed, and Rachel flashes him an embarrassed smile that makes his stomach ache for more.

"What the hell is going on?"

"We're ditching the boss and taking the money her dads offered." Puck heats up a teapot while Finn strokes Rachel's hair, and Quinn looks back and forth between them.

"You think it's going to be that easy? He's not going to let you get away with that!"

"How do you know if you can't remember him?" asks Finn sullenly, and Quinn rolls her eyes.

"I don't need to remember to know that all men like that are the same. He'll be out of nearly three million dollars, and you think he's just going to let you escape?"

"She's right Finn," whispers Rachel worriedly. "I didn't think of that, and I don't want to put you both in danger."

"We're doing this," barks Puck, and none of them say anything as he pours himself a cup of coffee. Finn takes the opportunity to heat up some soup, and while he's busy, Quinn, surprisingly, helps Rachel with her various wounds, not responding to the numerous thank you's from the small girl.

It's gonna be tough but together, they might be able to pull this off.

**Glee!**

"Hey Berry, can I have a word?"

Rachel raises an eyebrow in curiosity, and she doesn't miss the way Finn stiffens underneath her (she's claimed his lap as her own, and he makes a very comfortable place to sit).

"Of course."

"Can it.. I need it to be private, just you and me."

Quinn, who was humming a disjointed tune while reading a magazine, pauses at the same time that Finn sucks in a breath.

"Alone?" he says, trying to keep his cool, and Rachel feels him tighten his grip on the hand he's been holding protectively.

"I'm not gonna try anything or whatever, and you can sit outside the room if you want, you know, if she screams for help." He smirks, but Finn doesn't return the gesture.

"It's up to Rachel."

She gulps a little and her eyelids flicker. She doesn't trust Puck completely and she doesn't want to hurt Finn, but she knows it must be of some importance, and so she nods once, and Finn sighs, resigned.

"I love you," she whispers to him as she presses a lingering kiss to his lips, and even if he's not happy with this, he believes her at least, she can see the shine in his eyes.

He helps her out of his lap and squeezes her hand one last time before she follows Puck out of the room, and into one that she's never seen before. The base isn't very big and only has minimal facilities, and as she steps inside, she notices the washing machines and driers; it was obviously once a laundry room.

From out of nowhere, Puck produces a chair and offers it to her, and Rachel smiles slightly and sits down, waiting for him to talk. He leans against an old drier and crosses his arms, muttering something to himself, before he clears his throat.

"I need to get a few things off my chest." He doesn't wait for a response, or maybe he doesn't dare, because he grits his teeth and furrows his brow and he briefly licks his lips before he has the confidence to look at her. "I'm not a bad guy."

Rachel can't help the way her eyebrow quips in surprise. Of everything she expected him to say, this seems the most unlikely, and she's unsure of how to respond. Unfortunately, he seems to take her silence as disbelief, and he balls his hands into angry, frustrated fists.

"You don't know how fucking lucky you are. I bet there hasn't been one day in your perfect life when you've had to worry about anyone but yourself."

She knows better than to get upset. She understands his bitterness, having seen it first hand in Finn, and she doesn't blame him. "That's true," she says lightly, "but it isn't my fault, though yes, it has something to do with luck." She tilts her head as she watches him, intrigued. She knows little about Puck, since Finn didn't exactly spend their limited time together talking about him. Either way, despite their differences, she can see that the two of them love each other like brothers, and that's nice. "You're lucky too though."

He snorts. "How do you figure that?"

"You have a brother, and a younger sister if I'm not mistaken. Finn loves you very much."

For a second, Puck allows himself to smile, though it's soon replaced by a hardened frown. "It's for my sister that I'm doing this, and my mom." He clears his throat and gives her the once over before he clears his throat again. "You Jewish?"

"Is my nose that much of a giveaway?" He shrugs and she nods. "Yes, and proudly so."

"It makes me hate you a little less," he admits, and they somehow share an awkward laugh. "I never meant it to get this far. I figured we'd just have to scare you a bit before handing you over straight away. The torturing though..." He trails off and shakes his head, and Rachel smiles to herself; he's apologising, or as close as he can get.

"I understand."

"I don't get why you do, or why you claim to love Finn." He holds up his hands. "Don't get me wrong, Hudson's my honorary brother and I'd die for him, but you honestly expect me to believe you've fallen for him so easily? He kidnapped you and, let's face it, the dude's got no game."

She smiles as she bites her lip. "I can't explain my feelings for him anymore than you can tell me why you're so besotted with Quinn."

"I'm not- Whatever. Point is, I don't want you breaking his heart. He's tall, but he's fragile."

"Noted," she says softly, and he clears his throat for a third time.

"I brought you here to... Look, I'm, we're... We're desperate. My dad, he used to live with us. Sometimes he'd spend all his time sleeping on the couch, and sometimes me and my sis wouldn't see him for days 'cause he'd be out drinking away all our money, or betting it on bum horses." He blinks quickly, and Rachel wonders if he's going to cry. "My mom was so blind and kept giving him second chances, even if it meant she didn't get to eat so she could feed him, and fuck, I was just as dumb. I worshipped my douche of a dad and I believed him when he said he loved us."

"What happened?"

Puck snorts and rolls his eyes. "He stole my mom's jewellery and my video games and my sister's fucking Barbie dolls, and we never saw the jerk again." He shakes his head at the memory, and Rachel's heart goes out to him. "My mom was broken, and she could barely take care of herself, so I vowed to look after her. Trouble is, jobs around here are shitty and rare, and when someone offered me decent money for beating the crap out of a guy, I literally couldn't say no."

"I understand, and I accept your apology."

His head snaps up at that, and he gives her an incredulous look. "But I never said sorry."

"I know, and I know that you want to."

"Thanks, for being cool."

"No problem."

They share a brief smile before they return, and Rachel notes the way that Quinn almost beams at Puck's entrance, though she forgets all about the blonde when Finn pulls her against his chest and kisses every bit of available skin.

**Glee!**

It's their last day in their hideout before they travel to a new location, disconnected from everyone else, and Finn can't sit still. They've packed all of their minimal belongings up, ready to be stored in the truck, and with a vague idea of what they're going to do next, they just have to sit and wait for the next call from the boss so they don't raise too much suspicion.

"Can Finn and I be alone in my old room for a while?"

Puck looks incredulously over at Rachel before he snorts and waves her off. "Do whatever the fuck you want Berry."

"Language," she says on impulse, and the boy with the mohawk gives her the finger. "Finn, are you coming?"

She's definitely perked up a lot since the incident with Puck and Quinn, and though he has a feeling she'll have permanent scars on her arms, she's smiling a lot more, which probably has something to do with being free(ish).

"Course babe." He ignores Puck when he makes over the top retching noises, and follows Rachel down the hall until they're in her old room again. He has no clue why she'd want to come back to this awful place, but when she closes the door and turns on the light, he doesn't really care. Things have changed so much in 24 hours, and when she walks towards him and steps on the tips of her toes to kiss him, it feels like things might be okay, despite the mess they've got themselves in.

He wraps his arms instinctively around her waist while he eases her lips open and slips his tongue inside, and when she mewls in response, his pants tighten considerably.

"I know that others won't understand," she whispers, and she punctuates every word with a kiss, "but I've felt more for you in this short amount of time than I have in my entire life."

He hopes that she knows he feels the same by the way he grabs her ass and grinds his hips against hers, and judging by the way she squeaks in surprise then moans in satisfaction, she does.

"I brought you in here for a reason," she says between breaths, and he pulls away for a second to study her face.

"Oh yeah?"

"I want you to make love to me."

It feels like someone's just poured a bucket of ice cold water over his head, and he stumbles over his thoughts as he tries to understand what she's just said. "You- _What?_"

Her smile falters and God no, he doesn't want her thinking that he doesn't _want_ to, 'cause wow, he wants to alright.

"It doesn't matter."

"Rach." He tilts her face towards him and plants a kiss wherever he can reach. "I want to, I do, but this place... You want your first time to he in here, where you were held hostage, where you were hurt?"

"Yes," she says, and her eyes sparkle with her admittance. "Though this room holds some bad memories, it holds some amazing ones too, and if we do this, it's me overcoming my fears, me conquering the things that were meant to destroy me." She rests a hand on his cheek and searches his face for understanding. "I love you, and let's be realistic; once we leave this place, we might get into trouble, and I don't want to regret not taking this step with you." She falters and his heart lurches. "I haven't, I don't-"

"I'm a virgin too," he whispers, and she suddenly beams at him before pulling him closer for a searing kiss, and he doesn't know how Rachel does that; she's somehow able to rob him of his senses and thoughts but that's definitely not a bad thing.

She starts to pull off his shirt and he tugs at her blazer and there's an urgent knock on the door that stops them in mid action.

"You two need to come out."

If Puck didn't sound so devastated, Finn would have cursed at him for ruining what could have been the most perfect moment of his life, but he hears the tone of his voice, and something's happened.

Rachel straightens out her blazer and then his shirt, and holding his hand tightly, she leads them into the room to join Puck and Quinn.

"The boss just called."

"And?"

"They're sending someone over to take Rachel out."

It doesn't go unnoticed that this is the first time that Puck has used her first name, and it doesn't go unnoticed that there are tears flowing freely down her cheeks

"So what?" Finn asks, shaking his head. "Let's go, _now_."

"They're gonna find us," says Quinn weakly, but fuck, he doesn't have time for this.

"They will if we don't leave now; _come on_!"

They don't need to be told twice, and Puck and Finn hurry to load up the truck while Rachel hides in the back of the vehicle. It's already been decided that Finn will sit with her like the first day, since it's possible that the police know who he is, and the last thing they need is to get stopped 'cause some recognises him.

They're done in a surprising amount of time, and with Finn's arm around Rachel's shaking shoulders, the truck pulls away from the house, and no one gives the place a backward glance.

"We've decided that we're going to travel for a couple of hours, and when we find a random phone booth, you can call your dads to let them know you're safe."

"Okay," she whispers, and though she's too frightened to care, she needs to be sure of a few things. "Am I going to tell them what's going on?"

"Yeah," Finn says after a while. "But you're gonna have to call one of your friends and then ask them to pass you over to your dads so that the police don't record the call."

"Oh, of course, I see. I think I can trust Kurt the most, and he lives closest to my house." She snuggles against his chest with a sigh, and Finn tightens his protective grip around her. "I'm sorry that we didn't get to... you know."

"Have wild, unforgiving sex? Yeah, me too."

"Finn!" she squeaks, and she playfully hits his arm as he chuckles, and she can hear his laugh reverberating in his chest. "Hopefully there will be plenty of opportunities for that when we get to the motel." He chuckles again, and she falls asleep to that perfect, uplifting noise.

**A/N: **Sorry for the slight delay, and I'm sorry for not having the chance to reply to the reviews from the last chapter. I was extremely busy this weekend and I literally haven't had time to do that, or even write, so again, I'm sorry, and I'll catch up when I can. I'm back at university full time now so my updates may be a little less frequent, though since I'm having so much fun with this fic, hopefully the wait for new chapters will be no more than three days or so :) Thanks as ever for the amazing feedback, and please don't forget to let me know what you're thinking!


	8. Chapter 8

_We all look like we feel_

He's been driving for hours, and considering Quinn's been asleep for 90% of that time, it's frickin' boring. He hasn't heard a peep out of Finn and Rachel, which probably means they're snoozing too, and fuck, it's just so _boring_ (not to mention that he's on edge every single second).

What's even worse is that Puck can't stop sneaking a look at the blonde girl in the passenger's seat, whose hair is slightly messy with sleep, and who has a thin, somehow _adorable_, line of drool down her chin; he's never called anything adorable before. What the fuck is up with him? He doesn't love her or anything like that (at least not yet) and-

See, that's the problem! Puck isn't the type of guy to get goddamn crushes on girls; he's Puckzilla, and love is for wimps.

He glances across at her again, and he can't help it; he _smiles_, because Quinn is different, he can definitely see that. She has a feistiness and a confidence about her that catches him off guard, and he likes that she has her own independence.

He tries not to focus too much on her though. He's seen firsthand how much this love stuff can screw everything up, and while he's happy that Finn's happy, it's still not right; how can it ever be right? No matter how hard they fight to stay safe, Puck has a gut feeling that something's gonna happen, something bad, and Finn isn't making things easier. Maybe Berry is just playing them all, and maybe she's gonna set up a trap so they rot in prison for a few hundred years.

He doesn't wanna be cynical, but he has to watch his own back, Finn's too, and he's not gonna let one measly girl threaten that.

He checks the time, and now that they're nowhere near their base, or anything he recognises, actually, he thinks it's about time that Rachel called her parents; at least he can get pleasure in waking them up. He pulls the truck over, checks that no one's around (it's one in the morning, and only a couple of bums seem to be in the immediate area), then jumps out of his seat before he cracks his knuckles and opens the back doors.

Finn's always been a heavy sleeper, and while Puck decides how best to scare the shit out of him, Rachel blinks before he can wake them, and she quickly shakes Finn's shoulders, waking him instantly.

"Damn Berry, you a witch or something?"

"Excuse me?" she yawns, and Finn rubs his eyes as he tries to get his bearings.

"Hudson doesn't usually wake up unless there's a fire."

Rachel blushes at that information and finds his hand to squeeze it, and Puck, looking the other way to give them some privacy, stretches his legs; he's fucking exhausted.

"There's a phone booth at the end of the street," he announces, and when he looks over his shoulder, Rachel's wearing an expression that says 'bring it on'.

"So let's go through the scenario again."

Puck snorts. "Come on, we've told you enough times!"

"I want to be sure." She looks down at her hand in Finn's, and the boy next to her, though still sleepy, glares at Puck.

"Hey, lay off her, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be prepared."

"Yeah yeah, just hurry it up. I'll go wake Q."

Once Puck has left them to it, Finn wraps his huge arms around Rachel's tiny frame, and she submits instantly, and curls her fingers in his heavily creased shirt, breathing in deeply.

"I call Kurt, who lives five minutes away from my house, and before he tells me he can call the police, I ask him to pass me over to my dads. I won't let him hang up, and if he does, I won't call back."

"Right." They really have been through this a hundred times (probably more), but it can't hurt to be ready, and he can tell that Rachel's terrified she's gonna do something wrong.

"If he asks any questions, I'll just tell him that I'm safe, and that my dads will explain once I've talked to them." She stops to suck in a breath, and Finn gently caresses the small of her back. "When I talk to my parents, I'll tell them that I'm okay, but that there's been a change of plan. I'll tell them that the man who kidnapped me tried to have me killed, and that you and Puck managed to save me, but that we're now on the run in case he finds me."

"Rach-"

She smiles up at him. "I know, I know, I don't tell them your names, I won't forget." Finn kisses the top of her head, and she continues. "I'll tell them that the two of you are going to get me home safely, but that it means leaving your old lives behind, and I'll tell them that you need the ransom money to do that. Then we see what happens from there."

"Perfect." He rewards her with another kiss, this time on the forehead, and she gulps with nerves and squeezes her eyes shut.

"But what if something goes wrong? What if they call the police and they track our location?"

"It doesn't matter," he says softly. "However this turns out, we're gonna travel away from here, find a cheap motel, and then we'll come up with another plan."

"Okay," she whispers, not entirely convinced, "okay. I suppose I should get it over with." She nuzzles her nose against his chest. "Is it alright if I do this alone? I miss my dads and I love you Finn, but-"

"Course it is." She beams at him and he kisses her cheek. "When you're done, just come back and we'll get going."

Rachel hops out of the truck and is about to leave when she looks over her shoulder with a smile. "I really do love you, you know."

"I know," he says with a smug grin, and she sticks out her tongue before disappearing into the darkness, and Finn sits back and waits, hoping that things will work out in their favour.

**Glee!**

Puck messes with the truck radio, making indignant noises now and again, while Quinn watches Rachel, a pair of discrete binoculars in her hands. She still finds it reckless that they're trusting her to stick to her word and not call the police, but Puck's made it extremely clear that they're gonna go with it, and she has no authority to stop him.

Her head still aches now and again, and though Finn told her she was in an apparent car accident, she thinks the whole situation is very suspicious. No one can tell her why she was locked in the closet, and when she told Puck that she suspected foul play, he just laughed it off and told her to forget about it.

Forget about it; how ironic. She has no memory of anything anymore, and though she can remember snippets of her childhood, it does little to shed light on her current situation. Is she really the type of person who can mercilessly torture innocent people? It's scary to imagine, but she recalls the thrill she got watching Puck hurt Rachel; it was _exhilarating_, and she wanted to hold the knife so badly in her own hands.

She purses her lips when she sees Rachel walking back towards the truck, and she can hear Finn asking how it went.

Their relationship makes her feel sick. No one can be that naive, and everyone knows how it's going to end, apart from Finn. She can see the hesitance in the way Rachel is with him, and regardless of feelings, the girl knows it too; it won't be a happily ever after.

"How'd it go?" asks Puck over the sound of some song he's found, and Rachel peers over the seat.

"Surprisingly well. My dad told me that they won't tell the police, and that they'll play along with any new information they get from the man demanding the money. He seems to think that they'll get a call informing them that I've been killed if that's what the man wanted, so he wants me to call him in the next few days just to clarify that I'm okay."

"That can be arranged," he says with a nod. "Sounds like you have cool parents."

"They're okay," she says with a timid smile, and she sits back down to join Finn, leaving Puck to start the next leg of their journey.

"You gonna go back to sleep, babe?" He looks across at Quinn, not noticing the way her eyes have become distant and glassy.

"Yes, I think so." She leans against the window and feigns drowsiness, but as Kiss's Beth plays around her, images upon images flood her senses, and suddenly everything makes sense.

Her name is Quinn Fabray, she is eighteen years old, and nearly two years ago she was forced to give up her child when she fell pregnant. It killed her, and in response she became a different person, a dangerous person, and she was hired to make people talk.

She remembers Finn hitting her with something, and anger seeps through every pore of her body.

She's here for a reason, and she's not going to let one boy's guilty conscience jeopardise her chance at getting her baby back.

She pretends to sleep for the whole journey, but really she's just calculating how best to sabotage their ridiculous plan.

**Glee!**

Finn wakes up at the same time as Rachel, as if they both share an internal alarm clock, and instinctively he pulls her closer, aware of how cold it is.

"We're here," whispers Puck from out of nowhere, and he tugs on Finn's arm, who in returns pulls Rachel from the truck. It's still early, maybe five or six o'clock, and though the sun is barely creeping through the clouds, he can make out the outline of the motel.

"E-Z Pleasures?" asks Rachel quietly, and Finn cringes at the name; it's some sleazy dive.

"S'best I could do, and looks like we're the only ones staying so we're good to go." Puck helps Quinn out of her seat and then gestures towards one of the numbered doors. "Best keep an eye on the owner though. When I told him I needed a room for four, he asked if there was space for a fifth."

Finn snorts with laughter at the same time that Rachel blushes wildly, and Puck shrugs, as if he's always the recipient of such offers.

"Come on then, let's see the damage."

The four of them walk reluctantly to their room, bags in tow, and after Puck struggles for ten minutes with the dodgy lock and key, they make it inside, each of them retching at the same time.

"Fucking hell, when was the last time this place was cleaned?" He throws down his backpack and gets to opening all of the windows, hoping that the breeze will clear out the smell of damp and _old_.

Quinn grits her teeth and practically screams in the boy's direction. "Two double beds; is this some kind of joke?"

Finn drags Rachel into the bathroom before the argument begins.

"Did you hear that?" she whispers shyly, and Finn pulls a face.

"Yeah; she doesn't seem happy."

Rachel smiles, her cheeks still pink from embarrassment. "Actually, I meant... two double beds." She looks away from him, but Finn can see how giddy she is at the idea of it, and he can't say he's complaining.

"Yup. I hope Puck doesn't hog my blanket."

They lean towards each other at the same time, as if something is pulling them together, and when their lips meet, it's soft and happy and content, despite the less than perfect circumstances. Finn gently eases his tongue into her mouth, and when Rachel lets out a tiny whimper, he pulls her closer to him until she has her legs wrapped around his waist, and he pushes her up against the grimy bathroom wall. She tugs at his hair, he strokes her cheek, she gently nips at his tongue, he briefly squeezes her butt; it's a lot of give and take, and they lose track of time as they make the most of the situation.

Almost ready to summon the mailman, Finn moves his mouth to her neck and sucks briefly on her pulse point, which pounds against his lips, reminding him that Rachel is alive. That sounds dumb, but she's real, this tiny, perfect person, and she's trusted him with her heart; he's not going to let her down.

He sucks hard enough to leave a mark (it's the territorial jerk in him), and when she lets out a gasp of surprise, he sweeps his tongue over the offending area until her skin is soothed and comfortable, and he sets to covering the rest of her neck in kisses while she writhes against him, occasionally releasing pent up moans that remind him how tight his jeans are.

When his lips find her earlobe and his tongue darts out experimentally, she loses it, and she tugs his face back to hers so that she can kiss him, and _really_ kiss him. His thoughts are suddenly filled with lust and love and mailman mailman mailman, and when her tongue practically dips all the way down his throat, he finds himself grinding his hard-on against her leg (he's not sure when she unhooked herself, and he frankly doesn't care).

He waits for her to recoil in surprise or disgust, but on the contrary, she decides to tease him further, and while one hand gently scratches the back of his neck, the other cups him through his jeans, and he chokes at the touch, eliciting a proud smile from the girl.

Unrelenting, she squeezes his unashamedly hard arousal before she grinds her hips against his in a slow, torturous rhythm, and Finn growls, actually growls, and he figures there's time for embarrassment later, because Rachel's eyes go dark, and their mouths meet again for a frenzied, desperate kiss.

He'd hooked, he's trapped; there's no way he can live without this person in his life, and it seems that she's come to the same conclusion, because when they break away to catch their breath, they tug each other into a somehow passionate hug, and Finn doesn't want to ever let go.

Hugging's underrated. His hugs with his mom were brief, he's hugged Puck maybe twice in his entire lifetime (and then felt incredibly awkward afterwards), and he's hugged maybe three or four girls before now, and only in a 'it was pretty okay to meet you but don't bother calling again' kind of way.

With Rachel, it feels like she's hugging his heart, and she holds him so tightly, and with so much feeling, that okay, he maybe almost tears up, 'cause he can feel her heart beating, can hear it, can practically see it, and he closes his eyes and takes it all in.

Neither one wants to pull away, and it's Puck who eventually breaks them up by storming in, a suspiciously red, Quinn-sized hand mark on his cheek. "Sex is like hugging, but only wetter," he says with a coy smirk, "and it looks like you two just scored big time." He disappears, and after one last brief, lingering kiss, Finn and Rachel join him in the living room, hand in hand.

Literally, it's the room that they're going to be living in for however long it takes, and when Finn labelled it a skeezy dive, he wasn't exaggerating. The room consists of two double beds, a battered old TV, and a fridge that looks like it died fifty years ago (they still don't know where the smell's coming from, but that seems to be a likely culprit). There's also a dingy wooden wardrobe hidden in the corner of the room, and when Rachel takes a peek inside, she squeaks in surprise.

"What is it babe?"

Finn shoots Puck a glare for having the balls to call her babe, and he decides to see for himself, and ends up choking on thin air. He stares down of boxes upon boxes that are nearly overflowing with porn magazines and tapes and God knows what, and he feels it's in her best interest to cover Rachel's eyes, regardless of the fact that she's having a hysterical laughing fit.

"_Dude, _look at this kinky shit!" Puck pushes them both out of the way so he can get his hands on the stuff, and he takes his time in examining every magazine, oohing and aahing over the hundreds of positions that dwarves can pull themselves into.

Yeah, dwarf porn, you can't make this stuff up.

"Hey Q, look at this one, maybe you could-"

"Would you just shut up Puckerman? You're driving me fucking crazy!"

Rachel's eyes widen, Finn's jaw goes slack, and Puck turns white as he stares at the blonde girl. "Chillax Quinn, I was only messing. What's up with you? You've been weird ever since we got here."

Finn looks at Rachel, silently suggesting round two in the bathroom, but she's too busy watching Quinn with a frown on her face.

"I'm just sick and tired of all this. We should have just left Berry to be put out of her misery and be done with it all."

He knows it's not right to hit a girl, but he's already done it before, so he figures it's not so bad. Rachel takes his hand before then though, and she shakes her head briefly, her eyes never leaving Quinn's face. Does she know what's going on? Maybe the blonde's on her period or something, since that makes girls go crazy, right?

"I think we're all just a little tired and hungry," she says softly, and she looks to Puck, who's abandoned the sordid stack of things. "Maybe you and Quinn could go and find a McDonald's for their breakfast menu? Finn and I can't leave, obviously."

The boy looks hesitant, but he nods anyway, and takes their order (if he can remember it for that long). Finn spews out a long list of food he wants, and Rachel just asks for the same, even though none of it is vegan (once she has the option to, she'll return to her dietary regime, but she can't be picky at a time like this).

"Okay, well we'll see you soon then." Puck clears his throat and heads for the door, and after nodding in Finn's direction, he leaves, Quinn following sourly behind him. Only when the sound of the truck disappearing in the distance can be heard does Rachel relax, and Finn was right; she _knows_ that something's going on.

"Baby?"

"I still don't trust her, Finn." She reaches for his hand, which he squeezes back without a second thought, and she leads him to one of the beds, which creaks with the effort. "It's not just because of what she did to me, but something's different today, and I can't pinpoint what exactly."

"Maybe it's her time of the month?"

Rachel gives him an unhelpful glare while he just shrugs. "Why do men always assume that menstruating makes us go crazy? Besides, she's not, I'd be able to tell."

Finn opens and closes his mouth in surprise. "Are you serious? Girls can tell when other girls are doing that? Can you smell it or something?"

"_Finn!_" she squeals, and she giggles, shocked and amused. "I was kidding! Ew, no, that thought alone makes my stomach turn." Finn kisses away the creases in her forehead, and after she's stopped laughing at his naivety (hey, it would make sense if girls were magic like that), she frowns again. "No, it's not that, it's something else, I just don't know what."

"I'll look out for you, I promise," he says solemnly while he runs his thumb over the back of her hand. "And I'll even let you have most of the duvet tonight."

Rachel giggles, Finn kisses her, she giggles some more so Finn kisses her harder, and after half an hour of laughing and making out, Puck and Quinn return with the food, and they eat in comfortable silence, now and again commenting on how greasy their breakfast is.

Rachel doesn't stop watching Quinn, because she's determined to find out her secret, and while they spend their full day playing card games and question games and any kind of game that stops them from being bored, she watches and watches and watches.

However, there's no way for her to know that the blonde's given their location to her boss.

**A/N: **After having a dream about Finn and Rachel making out in a bathroom, and then waking to find that Lea had tweeted a photo of Cory, I couldn't resist updating in the haze of perfect OTPs, so there you go! Thanks to everyone who's read, reviewed and alerted this fic; you guys are amazing :)


	9. Chapter 9

_You have stolen my heart_

Rachel's not sure of the exact moment when she turned into one of _those _girls who are completely and utterly obsessed with their boyfriends, but it's three in the morning and for some reason unbeknown to her, she's awake, purely for the chance to watch Finn sleep.

Yes, she's _that_ person. Her eyes slowly blink open to try and adjust to the new surroundings (the bed is a huge improvement on the single mattress, though she's sure she saw a cockroach run under Puck's), and when she feels two strong arms holding her protectively, keeping her warm, she actually tears up. She knows that it makes her sound pathetic, but she can't believe how lucky she is (and she also knows that _that_ makes her sound certifiably crazy). The circumstances don't matter, because she's found the person she's meant to be with.

Therefore, as she tries to get back to sleep, she simply watches Finn dreamily, noticing how much younger he looks when he's free from worry. His mouth hangs open and he makes small breathy noises now and again, and his surprisingly long eyelashes brush over his skin as his eyelids flutter with dreams.

She's still watching him when his cell phone begins to vibrate, and without waking him up, Rachel leans over to the mound of clothes on the floor and fishes out the cell; Santana's calling. Reluctantly, she carefully slips out of Finn's grasp (she can't help but smile when she sees him frown in his sleep) and heads into the bathroom before answering the call.

"Santana, it's three in the morning."

"_Berry? Where's Finn?"_

"In bed, sleeping, as he should be at this time. What's wrong?"

"_The blonde girl, Quinn, she's betrayed you, and you need to get out of there!"_

The smile that was lingering on her lips drains away with the colour in her face, and Rachel nearly drops the phone in her grasp.

"I don't understand."

"_Me and Brits are back with the boss, and I was- Look, he got a phone call from Quinn, and she said something about memory loss and remembering everything, and she said she'd give him your location for Beth, whoever the hell that is."_

"What time was this?" Rachel asks shakily, and Santana's quiet for a minute. "What time?"

"_About eleven o'clock this morning. I couldn't let you know until now because me and Brittany have been working all day."_

A tear slips down Rachel's cheek. "Why are you telling me this?"

"_Fuck, Berry, I don't want the three of you to die! Just get the hell out of there!"_

Santana hangs up and Rachel splashes some water onto her face to try and let the new information sink in; she _knew_ something was wrong, but when did Quinn make the call?

"_Where are you going?" scoffs Puck, and Quinn rolls her eyes as she flips him the finger._

"_I need a cigarette, and I thought I'd be courteous and step outside."_

_When the girl came back in, Rachel couldn't smell any smoke at all._

She doesn't know what to do, and though she briefly thinks about waking Finn and running away, she knows he'd never leave Puck behind willingly. She briefly thinks about running away on her own, but she dismisses that too; she'd never leave Finn behind.

"Rach?"

Her head snaps towards the bed where Finn's calling for her in a croaky, sleep-ridden voice, and she doesn't have much time (she's not sure why they haven't found them yet, but there's no point hanging around).

"Finn, listen to me." She perches next to him and takes his face in her hands, and a small grin forms, though it disappears when he sees her worry.

"W-what is it?"

"Santana called," she whispers as quietly as possible, and in the next bed, Puck mumbles something, though he doesn't wake up. "She said that... that Quinn has given the boss our location."

Finn jumps up instantly and glares over at the blonde, and when he raises his fist, Rachel grabs his hand and shakes her head.

"No, that's not the solution, they'll still find us."

"That bitch-"

"_Finn."_

He looks at her properly, and his anger dispels to make way for panic. "We need to get out of here."

"What about her?"

"I... I don't know." There's an awkward silence. "Maybe you should go without us."

"_No!"_

Finn presses a finger to her lips because she can't wake Quinn up, whatever happens. "If you leave now, we can say that you escaped, that you played us, that-"

Her soft, plump limps cut him off, and Finn's momentarily stunned as she curls her fingers in his hair and doesn't hesitate in slipping her tongue into his mouth. She's good at distracting him, he's noticed, and for a second, he thinks about submitting, his pyjama pants already tight.

"Rach, no, don't." He pushes her away (extremely reluctantly) and holds her by the shoulders, and he can see the fear in her eyes, the same fear that he feels in his heart. "We need to-"

"Wha's goin' on? Wha' time is it?" They both freeze as Puck stirs, neither one replying in case he simply falls back to sleep. "Well?"

"Grab the rope that we brought with us."

Rachel's eyes widen as she stares at Finn, and the words seem to sober Puck up instantly, who sits up and cocks his head in confusion.

"Are you-"

"_Now."_

Rachel doesn't say anything, but simply jumps off the bed and roots around in their belongings until she has the coil wrapped around her fingers. "What else?"

"Something to gag her so no one can hear her."

"Hudson, what the fuck-"

Finn glares at his friend, his eyes blazing. "Be quiet or you'll wake her."

"Will this cloth do?" Rachel holds out an old piece of material, to which Finn nods, and while Puck looks on in horror, the two of them approach Quinn, gag in one hand, rope in the other, and then they pounce.

As far as he can see, this is the only option they have. They need to get the hell out of here while they can, and even though Puck's taken a liking to her or something, there's no way she can be trusted, not now.

The green eyes open at the same time that Rachel wraps the material around her mouth to stop her from crying out, and Finn holds her down as he ties her firmly to the bed. He waits for Puck to intervene, but he seems to be in some kind of shock, and just watches on as if he can't believe what he's seeing.

Quinn kicks and thrashes, and manages to slam her foot into Finn's stomach, but he's only temporarily winded before he ties her down completely until she can barely move under the weight of the rope. Puck _still_ hasn't said anything, and Finn briefly wonders if he's half asleep.

"You gave us up, didn't you?" he snarls, and Quinn doesn't even flinch. "Don't you care that we might all be killed now, huh? Don't you care about Puck?" Her stare never falters, not even when the boy with the mohawk stutters in surprise and fury.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Santana called," Rachel says timidly, and she avoids looking in the blonde's direction. "Q-Quinn told your boss where we are."

"No, she- She wouldn't- You didn't do that, did you Q?"

Rachel's heart aches for Puck at that moment, and when Quinn, without hesitating, nods, still staring at Finn, she feels it break at the look on the boy's face; complete and utter devastation. She knows it's nothing to do with what might be coming, but what that means for them, and what it means for the things he feels for her.

Finn lays a hand on Puck's shoulder. "We have to go, dude, before it's too late."

He expects him to refuse to leave Quinn behind, and he expects him to beg for the chance to risk it and take her with them, but without another word, and without a backward glance, Puck grabs his bags and storms out of the motel room, Finn and Rachel close behind. Quinn doesn't struggle, doesn't attempt to apologise through the gag, and they simply close the door on her and load up the truck. Thankfully, there's no sign of anyone, and hopefully they've made it in time.

**Glee!**

The journey is tense. Finn still sits in the back with Rachel, only this time, there are no stolen kisses, no adorable hugs and smiles and carefree laughs, and there's no longer any music playing in the front. There's the occasional sniffle from Rachel, who's curled up against Finn's chest, but that's the only sound to be heard (except the constant thump of frightened heartbeats that seem to echo in their ears).

Finn's cell phone begins to ring, and all three of them jump on cue.

"It's Santana," he says weakly, and he can sense the way that Puck tenses in the driver's seat. "Hello?"

"_Are you out?"_

"Yeah," he replies, and he squeezes Rachel for good measure. "We really owe you one."

"_Good, 'cause I needs to ask a favour of you."_

"What kind of favour?"

"_Can you pick me and Britts up?"_

Rachel, who can faintly hear the other end of the conversation, looks at Finn in confusion, and he replies with a shrug. "Um..."

"_Look Frankenteen, when they find Quinnie, she's going to tell them that you knew they were coming for you, and if they don't work out that I was behind it, they're even stupider than I thought. We're not safe here."_

"Okay." Finn nods, even if Santana can't see him. "Okay, that makes sense. You really up for slumming it with us?"

"_We don't have a lot of choice."_

"We're about four hours away from Lima."

"_We can deal. Just keep your cell turned on; when you're nearly home, send me a text, and I'll give your our location."_

Finn falters. "Be careful, and- Just, thanks, Santana."

"_Don't be getting all emotional on me. But you're welcome."_

She hangs up, and Rachel snuggles closer, 'cause things just seem to be getting worse and worse. In the long term, what are they gonna do? Santana and Brittany can't stay with them forever, but right now, that's the last of their worries.

"You catch that?" he calls to Puck, and he gets a non-committal grunt in response. "When we're back in Lima, I'll tell them, and then we need to pick them up."

"Whatever."

Rachel kisses Finn's cheek to try and get rid of the frown on his face. She understands Puck's plight, and it seems that he does too. In actual fact, they're both thinking of the exact same thing; how would they have reacted in that same situation?

Rachel thinks it's a moot point, because Finn's too good of a person to ever betray her, but if he _had_, would she have been able just to leave him like that?

Finn knows the answer to his question; no, he wouldn't have left her, but that's because he knows this is for real, and Puck was only crushing on Quinn (as far as he can tell).

He falls asleep at some point, Rachel shortly after, and the closer they get to home, the more he realises that he has no fucking clue what they're going to do next.

**Glee!**

"I need to call my dads."

"Huh?"

"They asked me to, and under the circumstances, I'd really like to hear their voices."

"Okay."

"Do you think Puck will let me?"

"Probably."

"Hey, Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think everything will be okay?"

"Yeah."

"Honestly?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"I love you Rach."

"I love you too."

**Glee!**

Quinn stares at the damp ridden ceiling as she counts the number of cobwebs for the seventy ninth time. Thankfully, she's never been the type of person to get easily bored, and she knows that they're coming for her, so she waits like a good girl, still bound and gagged in the slum of a motel room.

She's unfeeling at this present moment. If she wanted to, she could scream, cry, break down and lose herself, but she's learnt how to turn off her emotions like a switch. Feeling? It's overrated, and so she doesn't think about the boy with the mohawk, with his deep brown eyes and his egotistical smile and his overall presence that almost made her heart flutter. If she succumbs to that need to miss him, she'll lose it, and she has bigger things to think about.

One of these things is her circumstances. She informed her boss of their whereabouts nearly twenty four hours ago, so what's taking him so long to get there? Thankfully she's only been tied up for a few hours at the most, but with every minute that passes, her hope fades.

What if he's given up after all? Maybe Rachel Berry no longer seems worth it, and he might have already taken one of her rich friends to compensate.

The door rattles and she diverts her gaze towards it, and as it's forced open, three men walk inside.

Technically, they're not men at all, since they're barely older than Quinn, but she can tell by their expressions that they've been forced to grow up too, just like she has, and she sympathises with them for a second.

It passes when they stand and stare at her without making any kind of attempt to free her.

"Quinn Fabray, right?" says the biggest of the three. His dark skin and formidable stare contrast heavily against the suit that he's wearing, and he looks out of sorts in the material, as if it's the first time he's every worn a real shirt.

She nods, still unable to talk, and he nods in return.

"You don't know me, but I work for your boss. Thanks for tipping us off about your whereabouts."

She tries to channel her questions with her eyes, like why are they so late? Don't you know they're long gone by now? When will I get to see my daughter?

"Some of my friends are tracking Hudson, Puckerman and Berry, and when the boss sees fit, he's going to have them killed, so you'll be pleased to know that that's down to you." He smiles, though instead of putting her at ease, it fills Quinn's body with fear and, dare she think it, regret.

She shakes off the sensation before she can act on it.

"As for your daughter... Beth, is it?" He cracks his knuckles and licks his lips to draw out the suspense, and he glances at the two men by his side. "The boss decided that your contribution to the task wasn't good enough. He's disappointed that you allowed Hudson to assault you in the first place, and if you'd lived up to his expectations, we'd all have our money by now."

She doesn't like where this is going. The boss is disappointed, that much she understands, but she did her best, and she led them to Berry again, didn't she?

"Therefore, he's going to spare your life, but you'll never get to see your daughter. Better luck next time."

And then they leave, leave Quinn tied up, leave her with the knowledge that she's failed, and they leave her to regret.

She regrets everything. She regrets drinking too much at the party, and regrets losing her virginity to a faceless football player, and regrets listening to her parents when they told her to give away her baby. She regrets not kissing the child's head, and regrets losing her way as a result, and regrets the measures she took to try and get Beth back.

She regrets hurting Puck and Finn and Rachel.

Only now, when she knows she's completely alone, do the tears stream down her face, and she finally decides to act instead of waiting for guidance. She whispers a silent prayer before she closes her eyes and grits her teeth over the gag, and with one, strong motion, she slams her head against the wall, ignoring the instant dizziness that washes over her before doing it again.

And again.

And again.

She feels a warmth seep through her hair with every hit, but she keeps going, each time thinking of two faces, Puck and Beth, and she keeps going, keeps going.

And again.

Keep going.

And again.

Keep going.

And-

"Hey, what are you doing in there?"

Keep going.

"If you don't stop that banging, I'm gonna come in! You kids better not be trashing the place!"

And again.

The door slams open as the motel owner barges in, and her eyelids flicker as she takes in his shocked appearance. His hands soon set to work on untying the ropes around her wrists, and she relaxes for a second as she catches her breath, because she's okay, she's safe, she's alive and that's all that matters.

"Who did this to you? Was it that guy with the hair?"

She resists the insane urge to laugh as her head lolls forward of its own accord. "I need... I need my phone."

The man reaches from the table beside the bed, and while she slowly scrolls through her contacts, she faintly hears him calling the police, or an ambulance, or something.

She loses consciousness when Puck answers.

**Glee!**

"Who was it?" asks Finn wearily. He keeps his voice low since Rachel has drifted off into a nap, and he kinda loves watching her sleep (in a non-creepy kind of way).

"Dunno," barks Puck, and he throws his cell phone onto the passenger's seat. "Whatever. You need to text Lopez now since we're almost there."

Almost back in Lima; Finn doesn't know how to feel about that. It's his home, but it's also his nightmare, and it only serves to remind him of how shitty life is. His mom's here, but it doesn't mean he can see her, so as soon as they officially drive into town, he feels a lump form in his throat that won't go away.

He misses his mommy.

"She wants to be picked up at Breadstix," he relays, and he wonders if Puck has noticed how choked his voice has become.

"Okay."

Finn presses his face to Rachel's hair, and as Puck makes random remarks on how nothing has changed since they've been gone, he tries to block it out. He doesn't want to know about this place, and he especially doesn't want to know that there are missing posters plastered against every surface with Rachel's face on them.

"We're here," Puck announces.

"F-Finn?"

As his friend jumps out of the truck with a grunt, Finn presses a light kiss to Rachel's forehead as she begins to wake up.

"We're... we're back in Lima."

"Oh."

Yeah, oh's about right.

"Are you sad?" she whispers, and she kisses away his tears as he nods his head and crumples against her, and he tries to believe her when she tells him that it'll be okay.

Light floods into the dark space as Puck opens up the back doors, and both Finn and Rachel wince in unison before two familiar faces clamber in beside them.

"Frankenteen, Hobbit."

Rachel ignores Santana's remark. "It's okay to be upset," she says, and she brushes her lips over Finn's cheek. "I am too."

"God, we're not gonna have to watch the whole PDA thing are we?" The Latina scoffs in exaggeration while Brittany giggles, and Rachel, her eyes practically blazing, _snaps_.

"While we owe you for alerting us about Quinn, we've repaid the favour by taking you in, so don't think for one minute that we're going to let you push us around, okay?" She glares at Santana as she practically shakes with anger, and she feels Finn tense up beside her. "We have enough problems without you judging us on the only thing that is keeping us sane, so if you don't like it, don't look."

Rachel can hear Puck chuckling up front, and despite her frustration, she feels relief at the noise, since that's the first time he's loosened up since they left Quinn.

Santana, on the other hand, seems to become enraged by the sound, and she shimmies her head in outrage. "What makes you think you can talk to me like that?"

"Because I'm not a pushover," Rachel snaps, "and if I want to kiss my boyfriend, I'm going to. Besides, it's not like we're going to have sex when we think you're sleeping."

Finn isn't sure whether he should cover his face in embarrassment or kiss Rachel senseless, but one thing's for sure, he _really_ wishes he had a camera to take a picture of Santana's face. She glances between the two of them and makes a noise that sounds like a question.

"Y-yeah, that time you did each other in the same room as me and Puck? I uh, I wasn't asleep."

Santana doesn't say another word at that, and she also doesn't say anything when Rachel all but pounces on Finn, and she doesn't even say anything when they spend the next half an hour making out and catching their breath.

**Glee!**

"Okay Berry, there's a phone booth coming up, so you wanna call your parents?"

Rachel grips Finn's hand in anticipation, and though her lips are sore and puffy, she kisses his cheek before she replies. "Yes please."

Brittany's asleep, Santana's in a mood, and Finn, no matter how much he wants to go with her, nods and lets her leave. He takes the opportunity to stretch his legs and take a piss, and as he's zipping up his jeans, Puck joins him, a sombre expression on his face.

Finn knows that face, and in fact, he's pretty sure he knows all of Puck's different expressions and meanings; this one means that he's not going to like what's coming.

"What's up?" he asks, and Puck clenches and unclenches his jaw.

"You're gonna be mad."

"I already am." He scans the area, making sure that Rachel's still on the phone, before he looks back at his friend. "Come on man, spill."

"We're being followed."

It should come as a huge surprise, 'cause how often do trained criminals chase you when you're on the run?

It doesn't though. Finn's so used to the absurd that he's simply surprised that it's taken them this long to figure it out.

"For a while?"

Puck shrugs, but that means that yeah, it's been a while. "I don't know why they haven't stopped us yet."

"Maybe they wanted to see if we had a plan. Maybe they knew Santana would rat them out."

"What are we gonna do?" breathes Puck, and even though he's usually the one with all the answers, it's Finn that suddenly knows what's going to happen, and he's insanely calm.

"We're gonna abandon Rachel."

"I had a feeling you might say that."

"It's for the best."

"Are you gonna be able to do this?"

There's a silence, a silence that says it all, but when Rachel turns to look at him, he sees her give him a dainty wave before she returns to her conversation, and Finn knows that he _has_ to do this.

"Yeah, but we have to be clever about it. If they're watching us, we need to make sure that they don't see Rachel leave."

"But how?"

"You used to toss kids into dumpsters, right?"

Puck's eyes widen as he lets out a low whistle. "This is fucking crazy."

"It's the only idea I have."

"Rachel's not gonna like it."

Finn runs a hand through his hair and laughs, but it's a hollow laugh that just makes him feel shitty. "I know, but I'll guilt her into it if I have to." He holds his balled up fist in the air, and Puck presses his own against it like an unofficial seal of approval. "Tell her to finish up with her dads, and then I'll do the talking."

**Glee!**

"So if they've been following us this whole time, why haven't they taken action?" Rachel can't get her head around this. They've been followed since they left the motel? Why aren't they all dead yet? Why is Finn acting so calmly?

"Probably weighing out their options to see if we have any kind of plan."

"And do you?"

She sees something flicker across his face, and no, she feels a hesitance in her stomach because he doesn't look happy at all, and he's going to spring some suicide mission onto her, isn't he?

"Yeah." He reaches into the truck to pull something out before he hands it to her, and she stares blankly down at a garbage bag.

"Finn?"

"We're going to leave you here," he says in a detached, emotionless voice, and she sees Puck look away, and she finally notices that Santana and Brittany are keeping out of sight. "We're going to tie you in the bag and throw you in the dumpster so they think we're getting rid of some trash. We'll drive away, you'll wait half an hour, and then you can call your dads so they can take you home."

Her first instinct is to laugh at how ridiculous that sounds, and her second instinct is to slap him across the face for being so stupid.

"No."

"It's not a question, it's a statement."

"No."

"We'll say our goodbyes now, and-"

"_No!"_ she screeches, and she begins to bang her small fists against Finn's chest while he just stands there and does _nothing_, barely even flinching. "You expect me to agree to the four of you being run off the road or getting shot or beaten up or... or... or _anything_?" She glares at him with all she has before she stomps her feet and folds her arms. "No."

"Do you love me?" Finn asks quietly, and the blood drains from her face.

"Of course I do, and that's why I can't-"

He rests his hands on her face and takes a deep breath, and Rachel finds herself lost in his eyes. "If you really love me, Rachel, you'll do this."

She hates him. She's trapped, and he's played her like a fool. She _hates _him.

Except she loves him too much not to do as he says, and she knows that he's only using the guilt card to keep her safe, which makes her _hate_ him even more. She can also see how guilty he's feeling himself, and she hates that he can make her feel so much for him.

"I hate you," she chokes out, but she kisses him regardless, and she cries when she feels his response, because he's kissing her like this is the last time they'll ever see each other and it's _not_.

"I love you too," he whispers, and his tears are her tears and she doesn't want him to let her go.

"W-what's going to happen, Finn? Are you going to come back for me?"

His face hardens for a moment before he presses a fierce, possessive kiss to her lips, and she has to catch her breath when he breaks away. "Of course I am, just don't give up hope. I don't... I don't know when that'll be, but I promise I'll come back." He wipes away her stray tears and nods. "I promise."

They embrace one last time, and Rachel tries to memorise the texture of Finn's tongue and the taste of his touch and the warmth of his breath, and then when he hugs her tightly, she tries to remember the smell of his skin and the force of his grasp and the fluttering giddiness that she feels in her heart.

"Come on, I'll help you into the bag."

The moment is over, and he lifts her into the truck and closes the doors. Wherever their followers are, he can't let them see the next bit of their plan, and they can't stall for any longer. Santana and Brittany offer their wishes of luck, and Puck winks at her from the driver's seat, and Rachel thanks them all individually before she looks at Finn one last time.

"Curl up, okay babe? I've punctured the bag a little so you can still breathe, but I'm gonna have to drop you in to make it look realistic, so make sure you're ready. I've already checked the dumpster, and there's nothing inside that can hurt you." He helps her step into the garbage bag, and as he tugs it over her body, a tear slips down his face, and he has to fight so he doesn't lose it.

"It'll be okay," she murmurs, and she presses a hand to his face, to which he nods.

"Take care of yourself, Rachel Berry."

"See you soon, Finn Hudson."

They smile, genuinely smile, as if they're not both in danger, and then Rachel curls up inside the bag, tears fogging up in her eyes, while Finn ties her in. Everything is dark and stuffy, and she tries to remain still when he picks her up and tosses her over his shoulder as he gets out of the truck.

She's shaking with tears in his clutch, and she knows that he's crying too, but she doesn't say anything, and he doesn't either, because they've said their goodbyes, and it's easier this way.

She can hear him as he pushes the dumpster lid away, and though she's expecting it, the distance of which she falls is still a shock, and she tumbles onto the trash with a bump. The lid closes and Finn's footsteps die away.

The engine starts, and that dies away too.

She waits for an hour until she crawls out of the garbage with tear-stained cheeks and a heavy heart, and just as they'd expected, there's nobody around, and she's free.

Her boyfriend isn't though.

She hoists herself out of the dumpster and uses the last few coins in her pocket to once again call her parents.

"_Hiram Berry speaking."_

"D-daddy?"

"_Princess! Is everything okay?"_

"C-can you come and pick me up?"

**Glee!**

Kurt rolls his eyes and sighs dramatically when his CD once again jumps during Defying Gravity, and though the radio doesn't really count as mechanics, he wonders if his dad can take a look and fix the damn thing when he has the chance.

He hates driving without music, especially when he's on his own, and since Rachel was kidnapped, he's been on his own a lot more than he'd like. He worries about her all the time and misses her constantly, and ever since her phone call, he's been wondering if there's any way he can help.

He decides to sing to get rid of the silence in his car, and after warming up his vocal chords, he starts singing I Feel Pretty at the top of his lungs.

A truck collides with him five seconds later, and he's thrown against the steering wheel as both vehicles begin to roll down a steep embankment. His seatbelt stops him from crashing through the windscreen, but pain rips through him at every angle, and he's vaguely aware of the glass of his window spraying over his hair.

He comes to a stop in a bloodied, metallic mess, and thanks a God he doesn't believe in because he's still alive.

It hurts though, and he has to get out and call for help before his car bursts into flames or something just as melodramatic. He knows that it looks worse than it is, and he unclips his seatbelt and slams against the door to try and entice it to open until he stumbles out and catches his breath.

He only just remembers that another vehicle was involved, and when he sees the state of the truck, he gags, because there are four people stacked on top of each other awkwardly, and none of them seem to be moving.

Kurt rushes to the driver's side and pulls uselessly on the jammed door, and the boy, the driver, he looks in Kurt's direction, and he mouths the word help before he passes out.

That's-

That's Finn Hudson, that's the boy who-

"Go and check if they're alive!"

Voices began to filter into the air around him, and Kurt knows that the people in the truck are in some kind of danger. He returns to his car as stealthily as he can to grab the large wrench he keeps in his trunk, and though he may not be a violent person at heart, he knows how to twirl a baton, so how hard can it be to beat someone to death with a tool?

**A/N:** I am so sorry for the ridiculous delay! I've been so busy with university, and on top of all that, I've had a killer case of writer's block. I've had most of this chapter completed for about two weeks now, but every time I came to look at it, I kind of hated it, so I've been putting it off for as long as possible. I'm still pretty disappointed at how it came out, but at least it's an update, right?

I can't promise when chapter ten will be up, but it'll definitely be sooner, and thanks for your constantly amazing feedback; if it wasn't for the fact that you've been so wonderful, I would have given up on this chapter long ago, so thank you guys, and thanks for being patient!


	10. Chapter 10

She waits by the side of the road, hugging herself to try and pretend that she isn't about to collapse in a fit of tears, and where ever he is, at least she knows Finn's okay; she can feel it in her heart.

_There's a lot of smoke and loud noises, and he can barely make out the image of a kid wielding a tool of some kind as he brings it down on the head of a guy. Santana moans beside him, and at least that means she's alive; Puck and Brittany aren't moving._

The familiar car pulls up, and temporarily, Rachel forgets everything as she bolts towards her daddy and almost knocks him to the ground in an embrace. His whole body is shaking with sobs in the same way that hers is, and when her dad jumps out to join them in a hug, she cries harder.

"_Stay back!" shouts the boy, "I'm armed and dangerous, and I've already called the police!" Finn's eyes flicker with the effort of staying awake. Whoever the boy is, he hopes he can thank him properly (if he can stay alive, that is)._

"Are you sure you're not hurt? Have you been eating properly? Did anyone force you to do anything you didn't want to do?" Their questions are thick and fast, and she can understand that, though she could do without it. It's hard reliving the experience without Finn by her side, and when her daddy says his name, she cries and cries and they pull over so she can cry some more.

_Fucking hell that hurts. Puck opens his eyes to sort out the douche who kicked him in the stomach, but he soon realises where he is, and as he looks down at his blood drenched shirt, he feels light headed and passes out; Brittany's still unconscious too._

They pass a gathering of police cars and ambulances as they near home, and Rachel can't help but stare out of the window as they drive by. She wonders how far Finn and Puck have gotten since they left her, and while she smiles at the thought of them eating at another McDonalds drive-in somewhere, she spots Kurt talking to a police officer, and her scream brings the car to a halt.

_Finn feels a coldness rush through him, and he already knows what it is. He doesn't have long, and he misses Rachel more than she can ever know. He doesn't have long. He doesn't have long. He doesn't have-_

"Honey, what's wrong?"

She jumps out of the vehicle before she has to answer that question, and ignoring the protests of her dads, she charges forward and launches herself at Kurt, who actually does fall with her weight while the officer looks down at them in confusion.

"Ow, what are- Rachel?"

"Kurt!" She covers his face in kisses and hugs him tightly, and only when he pushes her away does she notice the various cuts and bruises covering his body. His clothes are ruined and his hair is a mess, and she finally takes in the scene around them.

Kurt's car is badly damaged, but the truck beside it looks even worse.

"No..."

Puck is carried into the ambulance on a stretcher.

"Rachel?"

Brittany is close behind, but Santana is strong enough to walk in herself.

"Finn!"

There's no sign of the boy, _her_ boy, and everything seems to happen in slow motion. Two men walk towards the truck, but jump back in time as there's a noise within in, and the whole thing explodes.

Fire.

Smoke.

Glass.

Finn.

"Please tell me he's in the ambulance," she whispers to Kurt, and he takes her hand but says nothing. "Please, _please_." She doesn't need to hear the answer though, because she can feel it in her heart, in her veins, in her bones.

How can she ever accept it?

"He- He isn't."

It hurts.

**A/N: **Ridiculously short chapter over, and just one more to go! I changed my mind on where I wanted this fic to go, and so the next chapter will be the last (though The First Time might actually kill me, so this chapter could very well be the last piece I ever write haha). Feel free to let me know where you think it could be going, and thanks for sticking along for the ride!


	11. Chapter 11

Rachel visits Puck in hospital, and almost doesn't recognise him without his mohawk. Still, apart from a few bruises and scratches, he looks okay.

Not counting the handcuffs holding him to the bed.

"Precautionary measures," he says in a sour tone, and she gives him a sympathetic smile whilst handing him a bag of fresh green grapes. She's not a fan of the fruit because of its associations with sickness and ill health, but Puck wolfs them down without a second thought.

"Sorry it took me so long to visit," she whispers as she sinks onto his bed, and she half wants him to scream and shout just to ease some of her guilt. "I had to- The police asked a lot of questions and took a lot of tests."

"Tests?" he barks, and her cheeks flush with colour.

"They don't believe my story, and they think that I've been brainwashed into defending you and F-" She doesn't say his name because she can't, not without bursting into tears. "They think the two of you raped me." She doesn't look at him when Puck starts cursing, and she barely even flinches when he throws the grapes in the trashcan beside his bed.

"Fucking cops," he seethes, and as if his resentment is somehow a strengthening agent, he pulls uselessly on his handcuffs. "What I wouldn't give to-" He pauses mid-rant, and Rachel gazes up at him as his expression softens. "Sorry, I should probably ask how you're doing. Was it bad?"

She shrugs, but it looks more like a nervous twitch. "It was humiliating. They- Swabs, they were taken, to see if- And I took a pregnancy test but-" Puck doesn't seem to care that she can't form a coherent sentence. "Santana and Brittany?"

"Both made it out okay. Britt had some head injuries and stuff, but she's alright." He fidgets. "Did the police- When they examined the remains of the truck...?"

She knows what he's asking, but she can't bring herself to say anything, and so they sit in silence for an hour. It's not uncomfortable, but as more and more time passes, she knows her dads will worry (they're even more overbearing than before, but she doesn't begrudge them that).

"They didn't find anything," she finally admits, and Puck has to stare at her for a while until it clicks what she's talking about.

"Isn't that a good thing? Maybe he escaped?"

She's had this same conversation with everyone she knows, and she debates it with herself all the time. "Escaped to where? He was injured, and the police would have found him... wouldn't they?"

She puts all her hope in this boy. He knows Finn, he knows what he's capable of, and if he says all is lost, then...

"He's probably dead." Puck says it with a distinct lack of emotion, but she knows how much it's killing him, just like it's killing her.

"Thank you." She places a chaste kiss on his cheek and tells him to get better soon, and as she steps outside, tears stream silently down her face.

He said probably; there's a chance Finn's okay.

**Glee!**

Her dad insists that she takes a leave of absence from school for at least another month, but after being back home for just over three weeks, she's tired of the same walls and the same scenery and the same lack of stimulation. Besides, she misses her friends, and she thinks that if she can just see Kurt again, things might get easier.

He's been avoiding her since 'the incident'. Three of the men who ran Finn and Puck off the road are in jail, one of them escaped... and the last one died; Kurt killed him with a wrench. Of course, it was self defence, and under the circumstances, he wasn't charged with anything, but he's become a recluse, and refuses to talk about any of it.

Rachel understands his guilt, and it only makes her guilty for worrying more about Finn than her best friend (maybe that means that Finn's taken his place, and she's okay with that).

She's grating on everyone, but she can't help it. She wakes up every day, hoping that Finn is in bed beside her, but apart from a couple of stuffed monkeys and his cracked Lion King plate, it's bare.

**Glee!**

Two months after Rachel's kidnap, and Puck is finally set free. She knows that the police don't believe their story, but she promised to help them out, and with only her word to go on, Puck, Rachel's apparent saviour, gets to go home. He stops by to check on his ma and sister (true to his word, Mike's being keep an eye on them) before he knocks against the door of the Hudson household.

He comes face to face with a strange guy wearing a baseball cap, and in his hands is a box of whatever; it takes Puck a minute to realise there's a moving truck outside.

"Carole, there's a kid here for you!" he shouts, and Mrs Hudson rushes to the door with the name of her son dying on her lips.

"N-Noah, I'm so glad to see that you're okay."

"Sorry it's been so long Mrs H, things have been rough."

She nods, tears flooding her eyes, and she pulls him into an embrace. He wonders if she's trying to remember how it feels to hug her son, and when she sniffles, he finds a tear running down his own goddamn cheek.

"You moving, Mrs Huds?"

The small woman pulls away in time to smile briefly at the guy in the cap, and she nods as he takes her hand. "I couldn't afford this house, not without- And Burt proposed, so I'm moving in with him and his son, Kurt."

He knows who Kurt is, 'cause he's the kid who helped to save them.

"That's awesome," he says with a grin. "I'm moving too."

"Oh?"

He rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah. After the Berrys realised I wasn't the mastermind behind Rachel's abduction or whatever, they gave me a bit of money so we can start over, you know?" He bites his lip and sticks his hands in his pockets. "No more dodgy stuff."

"I'm really glad to hear that," says the woman softly, and Puck feels like he's gonna tear up at any minute. "Is there any reason you're here?"

This is the hard part, but he has to do it, just in case. He pulls out a scrap of paper from his jeans and smoothes it out before handing it to her. "S'my new address. I thought if- Just in case Finn-" He shakes his head 'cause he knows he's being stupid, but Carole doesn't call him out on it, and only smiles at him fondly.

"When he comes home, I'll give it to him."

They hug again before they say their goodbyes, and Puck wonders what'll happen if Finn _does_ come home; what will he do when he sees the empty house?

He tries not to get his hopes up, and heads back to help his ma pack their belongings up.

**Glee!**

It's the fifth time Brittany's come over in just as many days, and she finally remembers which room is Rachel's without having to ask her dads. She simply walks in while the brunette cries, and it's as if it's become their routine because Brittany sinks down onto the bed and holds Rachel while she sobs. She always comes prepared with a song, and while she sings something from the Beauty and the Beast, Rachel manages to calm down, and the two of them snuggle up in bed together as they watch Disney movies.

She's never had a friend like Brittany before, a true girl friend, and it feels nice to have someone to laugh with and joke with and cry with. They talk a lot about Finn, and they talk a lot about Santana, and they talk about love and princes and princesses and happy endings.

"He's still alive, you know." Brittany takes another handful of popcorn, and Rachel just shakes her head.

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do." She licks her fingers and gives her friend a serious stare, and Rachel finds herself gulping in anticipation of what's to come. "He's your true love's kiss, and you're too young to be a widow. Trust me; Finn's alive, and one day he's going to stand outside your window, and you'll throw out your long, beautiful hair so he can climb up and make babies with you."

Brittany turns on Tangled after that, and all the while, Rachel clings onto the hope that Finn really is going to come back.

**Glee!**

Three months have passed since she returned home, and as an anniversary gift, Mercedes decided to set Rachel up on a blind date.

That's why she's here, sitting in one of the most expensive restaurants in Lima, and when a blonde boy with a rather large mouth appears and sits opposite her, she finds herself smiling at his stories and laughing at his jokes, and when he kisses her as he drops her off for the night, she finds herself enjoying it.

Only because she imagined that they were Finn's stories and Finn's jokes and Finn's lips on hers, and when she thanks him for the date, he seems putout and upset, and it's only when she's hugging one of her monkeys that she realises she called him Finn.

She can't remember the boy's name, and he thankfully doesn't call again.

**Glee!**

When the book Huckleberry Finn is mentioned in class, she sobs uncontrollably for fifteen minutes straight, and the nurse offers her a sedative.

She knows she shouldn't be acting like this, six months on, but there isn't a switch that can just turn it all off (if there was, she still wouldn't press it).

**Glee!**

"You barely knew him!" snaps Kurt during glee reversal, and Rachel shakes her head at his outburst.

"What are you talking about?"

"Finn Hudson is dead, and you need to get over it, or I swear to God, Rachel, I will-"

The sound of the slap reverberates around the room (it has great acoustics), and when Kurt's eyes water in response, Rachel doesn't apologise.

Nobody understands, _nobody_, and she doesn't expect them to (or want them to).

**Glee!**

Seven months, no Finn.

**Glee!**

Eight months, no Finn.

**Glee!**

Nine months, no Finn.

The night before her birthday, Rachel Berry goes to sleep, no doubt in her mind (or heart) that Finn Hudson is still alive, somewhere.

He promised he'd come back for her.

He _promised._

She closes her eyes, trying to remember the colour of his warm, welcoming ones, when her window flies open and a breeze freezes her to the core.

"R-Rach?"

She sits up, her heart pounding in her chest and her ears and her everything everything everything, and as she looks towards her open curtains and the pale moonlight that illuminates her room, she blinks.

And blinks again.

And blinks another time to make sure.

"Finn?"

**A/N: **I lied, there's one more chapter to go because eleven is a dodgy number to finish on, and I figured that it needed to be in two parts. Thanks for being insanely patient! Also, I'm _so_ sorry I didn't respond to reviews, but I keep get an 'Oops! We cannot find this page' message, so I hope it rectifies itself soon. Therefore, let me take a second to thank you all for you amazing comments, because you guys are the reason I have so much fun writing Finchel :) Thanks again!


	12. Chapter 12

**Finally, **_**finally, **_**the end is here. Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed and acknowledged this fic, and I hope the wait was worth it. As for future endeavours, I'm going to take a break from writing multi-chapter fics, and instead focus on random drabbles and one-shots until I have the time to tackle something bigger. Sorry if I never got round to replying to any reviews that I got; let's just say that I have a terrible memory and I'm way too easily distracted. I appreciate every single comment, and I promise to reply to any that I might receive on the conclusion (if there's anything that's confusing at all, let me know and I'll try and clear things up, either in an email or an epilogue).**

**Thanks for everything you wonderful, wonderful people, and I hope it all makes sense!**

**Disclaimers: There are instances of violence in this chapter, along with the suicide of a minor character.**

He stares at her because he can't quite believe that after all this time, she looks exactly the same. Her image had faded a little in his head, but God, she's so much prettier than he remembers.

A warmth floods through his body, and though he's not usually a shy person, he finds himself feeling self-conscious and shaky and-

He's fucking terrified, basically.

"You remember my name," he whispers at last, and Rachel doesn't laugh, or even crack a smile. He just stands there awkwardly as she storms towards him and slaps him across the face, and then her lips are on his, and he can't find it in himself to be pissed.

How could he be? He has Rachel again, and that's all he really needs.

He teases her mouth open and has to stop himself from grinding his hips against hers when their tongues meet, and fuck, damn, it's like coming home. Rachel tastes like fruit and happiness and _securit_y, and he definitely hasn't had that for a while.

He drags his teeth over her bottom lip and almost creams himself when she whimpers and tugs on his hair without mercy. Her fingers cling to him in the same way that he clings to her, and he's holding her waist so tightly that he's frightened he's gonna bruise her.

Regretfully, they have to break apart to breathe, but Finn keeps his forehead resting against hers, and they stare into each other's eyes like some soppy romantic comedy.

Holy crap though, he's missed those eyes. He smiles breathlessly, and Rachel smiles back, and then there are suddenly tears rushing down her cheeks, and he holds her against his chest as she lets out soft sobs.

"I know," he admits, and he kisses her hair while she gets it out of her system. "I know how you feel 'cause I'm feeling pretty emotional too. Can you believe it? Nine months apart. That's, like, a whole unborn baby." This elicits a giggle from her at least. "Talk to me, Rach. I've missed you, and there's so much to say that I don't know where to start."

"Sit on the bed with me." It's more of an order than a request, but Finn doesn't complain, and he sinks onto the mattress beside her, grinning at the fact that her feet don't even touch the ground.

"Do you wanna know anything specifically?" he starts, and Rachel bites her slightly swollen lip as she thinks.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Finn snorts with a laugh that makes her smile, even if she doesn't understand the joke. "I escaped near-death and disappeared without a trace, and the first thing you wanna know is that?"

"So sue me," she challenges, and he kisses the defiance from her face.

"No, I don't."

Rachel pouts and crosses her arms, and he knows he probably shouldn't find that adorable (he totally does). "I'm not your girlfriend?"

"We're really having this conversation? I haven't seen you in months!" He looks down at his hands. "For all I know, you could have a boyfriend who's gonna beat me up for kissing you."

"I do, and he's actually hiding under the bed."

He nearly looks, _nearly_, and he sees the laughter in Rachel's eyes before it spills from her lips.

"I really missed you," he says quietly, and she takes his hand and holds it protectively in hers.

"I missed you too, probably an unhealthy amount considering the circumstances."

He nods and bites his lip guiltily. "Did you think I was dead?"

"No." Her voice is strong, and he believes her, which warms up his heart. "This will sound completely ridiculous, but-" She takes a deep breath. "I could feel that you were still alive. If you'd... _died_, I would have felt it."

He kisses away the silent question of 'is that crazy?' because it's mad, it's undeniably insane, and yet it makes perfect sense to him. That's a bit like them though, isn't it? It was mad to fall in love with his hostage, and it's undeniably insane that they've been apart for so long, yet it doesn't feel like they've been apart at all. It makes perfect sense because he's Finn and she's Rachel, and that should be explanation enough; they _fit_.

When they finally break apart for air, Rachel threads her fingers through his hair while he all but purrs, and the silence is nice and comfortable and appreciated. God knows he's had enough of silence to last him a lifetime, but silence with Rachel is something else.

He apparently lets out a noise that sounds like a cat enjoying the sun, and as soon as she starts giggling, Finn finds himself laughing until tears run down his face.

"Finn." She cups his cheeks and kisses his nose, and it takes him a minute to realise that he's sobbing into her arms. His whole body shakes the bed and he knows he's getting her nice pyjamas wet, but Rachel doesn't complain, and simply rocks him back and forth as she sings a lullaby under her breath.

Before he falls asleep and crushes her, she invites him to stay the night, and he slips under the comforter, tucked up against her body. It feels like he hasn't slept properly in years, but when he's pressed up against Rachel, and when he hears her whisper 'I love you, Finn Hudson', he closes his eyes and doesn't have a nightmare.

He always has nightmares.

**Glee!**

He wakes up to the sound of Rachel singing to herself, and God, he could get used to that. He sits up and rubs his eyes roughly with a yawn, and his jaw drops with the sight of Miss Berry on her elliptical machine.

"Good morning!" she says brightly, and her body sways back and forth in time with the machine.

Her boobs shake from side to side, but he's not staring, honest.

"Sleep well?"

He nods with a crooked grin before resting back down against the pillows. "Very well, thanks. How 'bout you?"

She makes a big show about trying to think about it, and Finn playfully throws one of her stuffed animals at her head. "Be careful of Franklin!" she scolds, and she makes him kiss the bear on the head for hurting his feelings; he'd be embarrassed, if it wasn't for the almost evil glint in her eyes.

"I slept remarkably well, actually."

"Oh yeah?" He cockily raises an eyebrow. "And why was that?"

"Probably the sleeping pills." She winks and blows him a kiss, and he catches it and devours it like it's his last pretend meal (he can't get enough of the way she blushes). She steps off her machine and stretches her arms in the air, and he wonders if she's doing it just to torment him since her thin top rides up to reveal her stomach, and when he lets out a quiet groan, she_ definitely_ smirks.

Oh yeah, she knows what she's doing alright.

"Come here," he orders, and he pulls back the duvet so that she can slip in beside him.

"I'm all sweaty though."

"I don't care."

She beams before throwing herself into his arms, and they just stay like that for a while as he peppers kisses across her neck.

"It's my birthday today."

He stiffens, pretending he doesn't know, but he has his sources, and he came prepared; that's for later though. "Happy birthday baby."

She snuggles closer to him, her hands tracing patterns on his across his shirt-covered chest. "Will you..." He waits for her to finish her sentence, and it takes her a while, but that's okay. He knows this is just as strange for her as it is for him. He's been technically missing for nine months, and how does he even begin to explain it all to her?

"Will you tell me what happened?"

He nods a little and bites his lip. "Sure."

Finn did some things and then finally made his way back in time for a special girl's birthday.

_Finn! I want details, from the very beginning!_

Once upon a time, a woman called Carole Hudson had a baby, who-

_Stop trying to be funny._

**I'm hilarious.**

_Quite._

**Where do you want me to start?**

_The... the crash, please._

He's aware of a lot of things, and at the same time, he hasn't a clue what the hell's happening. His head hurts (_everything_ hurts) and there are loud noises everywhere, and he must be on autopilot or something 'cause somehow he's dragging himself away from the danger.

He doesn't remember the names of his friends or the reason why he feels like he's going to give in at any minute, and he doesn't remember where he is or why he's even there.

He remembers a face though, as the darkness takes over and he stumbles in the dirt, and when he falls and hits his head, he remembers the name of the face that smiles at him with her bright, beautiful everything.

Rachel Berry.

_Really? You were thinking about me?_

**You're ruining the story so can it, Berry.**

"God, you really need to lose some weight," groans a voice, and Finn opens his eyes, groggy and feeling like absolute shit, to see blonde hair and red cheeks. She's out of breath as she continues to drag him along the ground by his arm, and he's suddenly aware of the-

"Ow, fuck, what are you doing?" He pulls himself out of her grasp, and taking her by surprise, she squeaks indignantly and falls backwards until he's no longer the only one sprawled across the ground. He rubs his arm and winces at the pain before glaring at the unwelcome presence. "Leave me alone, Quinn."

_Quinn? The same Quinn who betrayed us?_

**Are you gonna keep interrupting all the time? You're putting me off.**

_Sorry._

He tries to stand, not realising his ankle is pretty fucked up, and the blonde just rolls her eyes when he crashes unceremoniously to the floor with a cry and a curse.

"I hope you enjoyed your trip; send me a postcard next time."

Finn weakly flips her the finger, but she only rolls her eyes again. "You hear to stab me in the back yourself? 'Cause I'm not really in the mood."

"No," she says coldly, "but the least you could do is give me the chance to explain."

"Oh yeah, sure, it's not like you ruined _everything_." He scrubs a hand over his face, and only then does he remember. "Puck, San, Britt- Are they okay?"

Quinn looks down at her nails like there are more important things in life than the wellbeing of his friends, but she nods all the same. "Yes, or at least, I think so. They were put into the ambulance before the truck blew up."

The truck blew up, huh?

"Damn."

"Yeah." She looks up at him, waiting for the question that never comes. "Well?"

"Huh?"

"Don't you want to know why I pulled you away from there? Don't you want to know why I didn't leave you to be discovered by the police?"

Finn knows he should care, and to be honest, yeah, he should have asked that right away, but he shrugs like he doesn't give a damn. "I guess."

"I need your help."

_Please tell me you're joking Finn, please. I don't think I want to hear anymore of this story. Is that why you didn't come back, because you were with her?_

**Yes and no, but you kinda- you need to hear it. It'll make sense eventually, and at least you know it's a happy ending, right?**

_Yes, I suppose you're right. I just can't believe she'd ask you such a thing._

"Help." He can't remember the last time he laughed so hard. Literally, tears are streaming down his face (partly because he's in a lot of pain), and Quinn's death-glare just makes it even _funnier_. "Help, sure, _right."_

"I'm being serious."

"Yeah, I know, and that's what makes it so ridiculous."

"If you'd just give me the chance to-"

"_No."_ The laughter's gone now, replaced with hostility, because it's not even funny, is it? If this girl hadn't given their position up to the boss, he'd still be with Rachel now, possibly in the clear, and yet he's not, and he feels resentment sting at the back of his throat and eyes. "I know I'm supposed to be the good guy, the one who doesn't like to see people getting hurt, but you've gotta be kidding me."

Quinn clenches her jaw and stares him down, but he doesn't feel anything apart from pure hatred. "I had to do it for my daughter."

"Did it work, then?" The brief flash of pain across her face says it all. "That's great, that's really- You sold us out for nothing."

"I had to do it for my daughter."

"You've already said that."

"You love Puck, don't you?"

Her question catches him off guard, for a second. "He's my brother."

Quinn smiles; he knows he's not gonna like this. "Then you have to help me."

"I don't have to do anything!"

She sits forward and doesn't even flinch when she brushes a spider from her skirt, and Finn suddenly remembers that they're still sitting on the ground, and it's pretty damn uncomfortable. "Remember when I told you that our boss wasn't just going to let this drop? He may have tried to have you taken out, but he didn't, which means that Puck is still in danger."

He doesn't say anything to that. He half wondered himself if this was gonna be the end, but he almost laughs at his stupidity; this just doesn't seem like the kind of guy you could outsmart. "And?"

"And that means you need to kill him before he kills you."

Despite the throbbing pain in his ankle, Finn drags himself up and walks away from the blonde girl because he's had enough with all of this crap. He just wants to go _home_ so he can hug his mom.

He just wants to see Rachel again.

"Wait for me."

He doesn't.

"Finn, slow down."

He doesn't.

"You need to think rationally here."

He doesn't.

It's a really long, boring journey to God knows where.

_How long did she follow you for?_

**About a day. She kept trying to talk to me, and I ignored her, but it wasn't as if I could outrun her or anything.**

_Your ankle._

**Right.**

_Would you skip to the part where you agreed to help her?_

**How'd you know I'd say yes?**

_Because you wouldn't want to let her down, no matter what she'd done, and you love Noah._

He finally lets her catch up the next day. Okay, so it wasn't like she couldn't keep up with him, but he stops and turns to look at her, and she flashes him a grateful smile, however brief.

"So you have a plan, right?"

"Sort of."

"Sort of." He blows out in frustration. "Is it gonna be dangerous?"

"Sort of."

They find an off road diner to eat in, though he doesn't order anything. He has a sickness in his stomach that can't be cured, and he turns his nose up when Quinn orders a plate stacked mountain high with bacon and eggs.

She tells him calmly that they have to sneak into the boss's 'hideout' and kill him, and while his jaw hangs open on horror, she slurps at her milkshake.

_Kill him? Finn..._

**I know Rach, believe me, I know.**

"No."

"It's the only way."

"Killing someone can't be the only solution!" He almost yells it, but he doesn't wanna be kicked out; at least it's warm.

"I've been thinking about it for a while, and we don't have a lot of choice."

"But we have some, right? We have some choice."

She nods with a smile. "Of course; hand to hand combat or a gun? I'm not picky."

When the waitress's back is turned, Quinn darts out of the diner (it only just occurs to him that they have no money), and he hurries after her. He vows to come back and pay the bill when he can.

_You're amazing._

**I know.**

Rachel kisses his cheek before he can continue, and she jumps out of bed with a smile on her face. "How about you tell me the rest later? After breakfast at least, since my dads will want to meet you."

Finn freezes, a look of horror on his face, because he wasn't expecting to meet her parents so soon. He still kidnapped their daughter, and no matter how things turned out, he's pretty sure they hate his guts.

"Um, maybe I should wait up here until you're done..."

"Finn." Her voice is stern, and with her hands on her hips, she reminds him of his mom a little. She's in control, and that means he doesn't exactly have a choice. "It is my birthday, after all."

"Damn," he moans, "you're using that against me already?"

Smiling sweetly, Rachel simply nods. "Of course I am! Now come on, I don't have all day."

He feels like a mess, wearing the clothes he slept in, but Rachel insists that her dads won't mind, and that they'll be eager to learn all about him.

He's never had a dad before. His father was killed when he was a baby, and so he's never really learnt had to deal with them, you know? Moms are different and nice and friendly, but dads are something else entirely, and yeah, he'll admit it, he's terrified.

"Wait here," she whispers, and she kisses him briefly before skipping into the kitchen, while Finn just stands in the hallway, admiring the house.

It's big, and not just big, _big_ big. It makes sense, since they're millionaires and all, but to see it with his own eyes... It must be nice to have money.

There are suddenly raised voices, and out of nowhere, a man appears beside him and pins him to the wall. He's even taller than Finn is, and he resists the urge to struggle as he hears Rachel pleading for her daddy to let him go.

He does when his daughter starts crying, and Finn stumbles backwards as another man arrives to stare him down.

"Rachel, please go into the living room."

"Daddy-"

"_Now_." The tallest of the two, a man wearing glasses and a distrusting glare, snaps his head towards Rachel, and she retreats with a whimper while her other dad follows after her."I'm Hiram Berry," announces her daddy, "and I have one question for you, and one question only. Do you love my daughter?"

"Yes," he says without hesitating, and despite how nervous he is, his voice is strong and confident (even though he doesn't feel like either of those).

"Good, because she hasn't stopped talking about you since the incident, and I don't want her birthday ruined." He holds out his hand, and unbelievably, the guy starts to smile. "Welcome home, Finn."

"Th-thank you sir." They shake on their new found 'friendship', and when Hiram offers him a plate of fresh waffles, who is he to say no?

**Glee!**

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"I guess it could have been worse." Finn follows Rachel obediently back to her room after surviving breakfast with the Berrys, and since he's still in one piece, he considers it a victory. "Do you think I passed the test?"

"Oh yes, definitely. Daddy, especially, seems very taken by you."

Finn wrinkles his nose as he sits beside her on the bed. "I dunno Rach, he's a little too old for me."

She giggles as she playfully pokes him in the side, and he pats his lap until she crawls into it and leans against him to listen to the sound of his heart.

"The rest of your story," she begins, and he makes a noise of acknowledgment in the back of his throat, "can you summarise it for me? The more time I spend with you, the more I realise that I don't really want to dwell on what's happened."

He purses his lips, because it's not that easy. His story is a long one, a dangerous one at times, and he's not convinced he can explain it in a condensed format.

"We travelled by foot for a while," he says quietly, and she draws circles on his chest with her finger. "We didn't have any money to get a bus or cab or anything, and I looked like a mess from the accident anyway, so people probably would have been suspicious."

"Naturally," she nods, and he nods in tandem with her.

"Anyway..."

Finally, after what feels like too long, they arrive at the base of the boss. Finn's an old school romantic, and he expected it to be some huge villain hideout, like in James Bond or whatever, but it's a gym.

Seriously, a _gym_ and he considers laughing at how ridiculous it looks.

"Don't you think there's a reason he's situated here?" Quinn sighs in exasperation as she massages her temple. "Honestly, why you were ever hired is beyond me. Does this look like the lair of some criminal mastermind?"

"No," he responds flatly.

"Exactly, which means that he's hidden away from idiots like you; you were no doubt expecting moats filled with killer sharks."

_What a very rude girl._

**Tell me about it.**

"So, the plan."

She squints up at the sun. "Yes, the plan."

Silence. "Are you gonna share it, or what?"

"Maybe."

"_Maybe_... You're really testing my patience."

"Follow my lead."

And so he does, against his better judgement. They're buzzed into the building when Quinn says the 'secret code' and-

_What was it?_

**Pink dagger.**

_Is that some kind of euphemism?_

**I have no idea what that means.**

_A word substituted for another that may be considered a little too blunt or offensive._

**So you think it stood for the pink, spiky penis?**

_Never mind, please continue._

They're buzzed into the building when Quinn says the 'secret code', and with nothing but a warning of 'act like you're a dick who's capable of being evil', he strides down the hallway by Quinn's side, his whole body on fire with excitement. The adrenaline pumping around his body makes him feel alive, which is ironic, considering he could be dead before the day is over.

_Did you really believe that?_

**I thought you were gonna let me tell my story?**

_I will, I promise, but did you think... were you worried you were gonna die?_

**Yeah.**

_Any regrets?_

**That I wasn't spending my last day on Earth with you.**

_..._

**Rach, you okay?**

_Y-yes, I'm just... Carry on._

Now they're inside, it's obvious that the gym look is just a front. If anything, the place is more like a hospital, and the smell that seems to take permanent hostage of his nostrils is a mixture of bleach and antiseptic that does little to put him at ease.

"Quinn."

He jumps when a voice hisses out the blonde's name, and he glances around the surroundings to try and locate the person.

"Matt?"

"Over here!"

A door opens into a darkened room, and before Finn can ask if it's such a good idea, Quinn's dragging him inside as she clutches his hand too tightly in her own.

It's dark, and that's pretty much all he knows. The door closes, and though Quinn doesn't break the contact, he feels alone, and it hits him like a bullet.

Quinn's voice. "Is this necessary?"

'Matt's' voice. "Yeah, I'm not supposed to be here."

Finn strains his eyes, but no such luck; he can't make out the guy.

"I appreciate this." Quinn's voice again.

"Don't mention it, you're both my friends."

Finn furrows his brow. "I know you?"

"It's Matt Rutherford," scolds the blonde, as if he's supposed to be able to recognise people in the dark, and though it takes him a moment to register the name, when it clicks, it clicks.

"M-Matt? What are you doing here?"

"Helping you guys out," he laughs, and a hand pats his shoulder in the shadows. "We need to go. I know where Beth is, but if you're gonna take the boss out, you'll need to act fast."

_How did you know him?_

**He's one of the guys who we used to work on the small jobs with.**

_How did he know what you were doing?_

**Berry, you're doing it again.**

"How do you know what we're up to?"

Quinn scowls. "Does it matter? The details aren't important right now. You heard him; we need to act _fast_, and at this rate, you're only going to slow me down."

"That's _it!"_ he snaps, and though he can't see her, he feels Quinn jump, somehow. "Stop treating me like an idiot! I don't like you, and the more you act like a bitch, the more I find myself hating you, so shut _up!"_

There's brief silence until she snorts with a laugh, and even Matt has the balls to chuckle.

"Okay Finny," she says in her nasally voice, "duly noted. We have to leave."

He's dragged back into the hallway, and passing random strangers, each wearing the same glazed-over look, they stop in front of an office marked 'Sylvester'.

"Like the cat?" he asks numbly, and both Matt and Quinn ignore him.

"Good luck." They kiss each other's cheeks, and the kid holds his fist out until Finn bumps his own against it.

Then he's gone, and Quinn barges into the room.

_I'm scared._

**I was too, and I really thought I was gonna pass out. **

"Why hello Q, what a pleasant surprise."

To be honest, he wasn't sure what to expect. An evil Russian scientist, a bald guy holding a cat, a man in some dumb costume, they were all things that came to mind, but not this.

The voice is female.

"Sue," says Quinn in a cold manner, and Finn gulps as the chair in the middle of the room begins to turn, revealing a blonde woman wearing a tracksuit.

Yeah, you can't make this stuff up.

"This your latest fuck buddy?"

"That's none of your business."

The woman smiles, and Finn's never been more terrified of a smile before. "So you won't mind if I ask Azimio to shoot him, then?"

The click of a gun reverberates around the room, and Quinn's calm facade cracks as she grabs his hand. "You don't want to do that."

"Oh believe me, I do," chuckles Sue, and Finn has to look away from her while he can. It takes him a while to notice the hundreds of trophies lining the room, and though the light is dim, it reflects off of them all, causing the same effect as a disco ball.

"There's a reason we're here." Quinn glances up at him, gives him the smallest of smiles, and takes a step forward. "His name is Finn Hudson." If Sue recognises his name, she doesn't react to it, and merely raises an eyebrow while she waits for Quinn to continue. "He's Will Schuester's protégé."

Everything changes in an instant. The mention of his old Spanish teacher catches him off guard, since he has no clue what the guy has to do with anything, and Sue reacts by letting out a deafening yell.

_Who is Will Schuester?_

**Before I had to drop out of school, I went to McKinley High. It was a dump. ****Except for one thing, one person, and that was Mr Schue. Even though he knew that most of the kids at school were trouble, he tried so hard to save us.**

_You were his protégé?_

**I think so, I mean, I'm not entirely sure what that word means...**

_It means to take someone under your wing, so to speak, and to look out for them and educate them in a certain way._

**Oh, I get it. I guess it was like that. He was just an awesome teacher, and he saw the potential in me that I couldn't see myself, you know? **

"You're Hudson?"

He doesn't dignify that with an answer, mainly because he can't open his mouth to say anything.

"He is." Quinn keeps her eyes firmly ahead, and Finn's forced to just go with it; it's not as if he has a lot of options. "And you can have him if you meet my demands."

_No..._

**Unfortunately, yeah.**

"W-what?" he splutters. "Quinn, what the hell are-"

A shot rings through the room, and it takes him a moment to realise that there's a bullet in his leg.

It hurts.

_Finn!_

**What?**

_You were shot?_

**Didn't I just say that?**

_You don't need to be so flippant about it! Oh my God, you poor little baby, I can't believe it._

He collapses to the ground, and Quinn's confident facade falters as she kneels beside him and presses a hand to his cheek. "You didn't need to hurt him!"

"His voice irritates me," says Sue with a shrug, and she nods to the hidden sniper in the room while Finn feels himself drifting in and out of consciousness. Getting shot; that's a new experience to say the least. "What do you want for him?"

"I want four people to go free." He doesn't hear the rest, because everything turns into darkness, and the pain disappears.

_Finn-_

He yawns and wraps an arm around Rachel's body before pressing kisses along her neck.

"No way," she gasps, "you _cannot_ leave it there and expect me to be okay with- _oh_, Finn, a little lower, _please_."

**Glee!**

After an impromptu make out, they've changed positions, and Rachel runs a hand up and down his leg when he shows her the scar from the bullet. She doesn't say a lot, but kisses it a few times while he groans, and runs her finger along the scarred tissue. He takes a deep breath.

He wakes up in a cage, like literally, a cage, and he can smell blood.

His leg throbs like a mother fu-

Oh, yeah, he was shot.

_Shit_, that hurts like hell, unsurprisingly. He tries to move his leg, but coupled with a still-healing ankle, he's not that successful.

Quinn's nowhere to be seen, but then again, neither is Sue. He's on his own, in a cage, and he misses home.

He tries to remove the bullet himself, and ends up passing out again.

_I don't think I like this story._

**Happy ending, remember? The handsome hero gets to make out with the princess, so it can't be all bad.**

He comes to when he feels a throbbing pain in his leg, and he opens his eyes to see a stranger stitching it up. He panics and kicks out, and in retaliation, she prods him with a _very_ sharp pair of scissors.

"Stop squirming or I might accidentally cut your leg off." She pauses. "And when I say accidentally, I don't really mean it."

He's done asking questions, and at least she's helping with his wound and everything.

Then it clicks.

"You're Terri Schuester."

"Del Monico," she hisses, "it's Del Monico."

He rubs his eyes, saying nothing. She says nothing too, and she leaves his cage (_seriously) _while he just stays there, awkwardly sprawled across the floor. He cries because he misses his mom and he misses his Rachel.

_You're making _me_ cry._

**Sorry.**

He wakes again when Terri comes back with a plate of something inedible, and it's only then that it dawns on him that karma really exists (even if he's not completely sure he understands it). Seriously though, he kidnapped a girl, and now he's being put through the same kind of torture.

He totally deserves it.

_No, _no_, you did _not_ deserve that kind of treatment._

**You're just saying that.**

_Because it's true._

**Hmm.**

"I'm the Honey Badger," she says as she tries to spoon feed him some colourless slop, and he resists as best he can. "Have you ever seen one of those bad boys? Overly vicious and mean." She laughs, and he recoils. "She'll get what she wants, she always does."

His head hurts because he doesn't understand anything.

_I'm so sorry, Finn. I was home, warm and safe, and you were in a hell hole._

**Hey, that's not your fault, and it's not you who needs to apologise. Can I... Can I ask you a question?**

_Of course._

**Were you happy?**

_...no. No because all of my time was spent worrying about you._

He wakes up and his head is still hurting. He lets out a groggy moan as he tries to take in his surroundings, and suddenly he remembers where he is, and sits up abruptly. Terri is still there, flipping through a magazine on the other side of the cage; he has no clue what to say.

"Can I get you anything to eat?"

"No, but you can let me out."

She laughs under her breath. "Nice try sweetie, but I'm afraid you're going to be here for a while. So, would you like anything to eat?"

He gives her a dry smile. "Steak, medium rare."

"You're cute," she chuckles, and she shakes her head whilst turning the page. "But that's not going to help you." She looks up for a second, and when he catches her gaze, he's surprised she's evil, or whatever the hell she is. She looks relatively kind, and he wonders what she has to do with anything.

"You and Mr Schue got a divorce, then?"

The smile on her lips turns into a sour pout, and she almost rips a page as she turns it. "Why do you care?"

"He used to talk about you a lot." He rubs his leg and lets out a groan. "He seemed happy."

"Things change," snaps Terri, and she glares him down while he winces in discomfort. "Stop being a baby, I dropped some pain medication into your mouth while you were snoring."

He doesn't know whether or not to believe that, but he stops complaining nonetheless. He has a lot of questions to ask, and he needs her to be in a good mood to answer them.

"What happened to Quinn?"

She continues to flick flick flick through her magazine. "She left in exchange for you, with the guaranteed safety of her friends."

He raises an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Oh." She mmms and aaahs over some article, and he rolls his eyes.

"I mean oh, who were they?"

Terri presses a finger to her lips, and Finn cocks his head. She reminds him of Quinn, actually. She's pretty, blonde, and from the looks of things, ruthless. "Some boy called Noah, two of Sue's girls, and..."

"Rachel Berry?" he offers, and she nods. "You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." There's more silence as she intently reads her magazine, and Finn has time to go over the thoughts in his head. Quinn thought to look out for Rachel, and though no doubt she'll want something from him in the future, he's grateful for that, and he doesn't feel so bitter about being locked up anymore. Hey, if it was a choice between his safety or Rachel's, he'd choose hers every time.

_I really want to kiss you right now, but I don't want to distract you from the story._

(They fit in fifteen minutes of make out before he continues.)

Terri leaves a few hours later with the promise of something edible, but he's not holding out too much hope. As the door closes, and he's left alone, he tries to stand up, only to cry out in pain as he clings to the bars of the cage.

There's no hope, is there? Even if he somehow manages to escape, he'll be detected straight away if he can barely walk.

The door opens, and the woman from earlier, Sue, walks inside, wearing a different coloured tracksuit.

"Enjoying the five star accommodation, Hudson?"

"Not exactly."

A leering smile spreads across her face. "That's what I like to hear. Now, I'm gonna lay some info on you, and if you can't give me what I want, I'll just have you killed, okay?"

"Are you the boss? I thought he was a guy."

She waves him off with a scoff. "He was just one of my minions who thought it would be fun to kidnap a snotty rich girl. They get a kick out of their power plays, and I get the finances to continue on my quest." She leans in towards the cage, eyes narrowed as a leer pulls at her lips; she's scary as hell. "My quest is where you come in."

Finn yawns and rubs at his eyes while Rachel stares at him, entranced, waiting.

"Well?"

He shrugs. "Well what?"

"Continue, I need to hear more!" She folds her arms with a huff, causing Finn to chuckle to himself. "Who was Sue? What did she have to do with your Spanish teacher?"

He yawns again, and Rachel playfully slaps his arm. "Long story short, she used to work at McKinley alongside Mr S before I ever went there. They didn't have any problems or whatever, until Mr Schue failed one of her cheerleaders because she couldn't spell her own name or something."

With a tut, Rachel shakes her head. "How awful."

"Sue started a vendetta against him as payback, but things got out of control. She was fired after she started threatening him, like, properly, and that was that."

"But it wasn't."

"No, not even close."

As Sue finishes her Will Schuester tirade, she drinks from some kind of smoothie in her hand while Finn stares down at his shoes; he really needs new ones.

"The Honey Badger worked for me for a while behind enemy lines, gathering information and passing it onto me."

"Why?" He finally looks up at her, his jaw tight. He doesn't remember a lot of things, but he remembers Mr Schue being a happily married man.

"I told her that he'd been making googly eyes at the ginger guidance counsellor, and she ate it out of the palm of my hand. I don't know if it was true or not, and frankly I don't care, but she messed up anyway and Schuester asked for a divorce." She sucked loudly, obnoxiously, on her drink until she'd finished every last drop. "She's been working for me ever since. It's not all bad news though; I'm pretty sure she's screwing Sergeant Handsome, but I've yet to find proof."

And then she leaves, not actually asking him for anything. Terri visits later on, giving him some vitamin D tablets so he doesn't become sunlight deficient or whatever.

He sees Sue now and again. What she wants isn't clear, but it's obvious she's obsessed with getting Mr Schue back for something. She asks him question after question about the Spanish classes he used to go to, but in all honesty, he doesn't remember most of it. Come on, he found school boring, how was it his fault if he fell asleep most days?

The next time he sees her (he's lost track of the days), her eyes are rimmed red and her hair is a mess.

She's also holding a gun in a very unstable grasp as she points it at him, wobbling all over.

"He killed her!"

Finn holds his hands up. As clichéd as it sounds, everything slows down.

Right down.

He can feel his heart racing to pump blood through his panicking body. He can hear the thump thump thump as he struggles to breathe. He can see the name of a girl fall from Sue's lips.

"I needed those Cheerios to pay for my sister," she yells. Her voice is croaky, almost unrecognisable, and she can't keep herself steady. "I needed the team to win Nationals, but he flunked them, almost every single one of them. We didn't even place, didn't even win a few thousand dollars."

There's a snap as she removes the safety catch, and Finn prays to a God he doesn't believe in.

"She died, died because I couldn't pay for the hospital bills. But who can in this side of town?" She laughs a laugh void of anything other than pain. Finn's not exactly sure who she's talking about, but he feels the hurt radiating off her. "She died because Will Schuester was too _good_ of a teacher to let my girls pass a Spanish class."

"It wasn't Mr Schue's fault!" he blurts out, and she lowers the gun for a moment (only a moment though, when she aims for his head again). "It's... it's society's. Yeah, it's society. The rich are only interested in helping the rich. I know, I _know_, because I had to do the shittiest of things just to pay for food for me and my mom."

Suddenly everything snaps in to place, for the most part. As scary as it is, they're all in the same boat; people go to desperate measures for those they love. Sue, she built up some kind of empire to get money because it was a lack of the stuff that saved the girl she was talking about, and it helps to just blame anyone. He remembers Puck blaming the Berrys for having so much money, 'cause it was just _easier_ to have something solid to direct your frustration at.

Sue doesn't hate Mr Schue; she hates the injustice of Ohio.

"What do you do with your money now?"

She falters, and a dreamy, almost distant smile flickers on her face. "I donate it all to organisations helping those with Downs'." She nods, lowering the gun. "For my sister, for Jean."

Her wrist snaps upwards and a bullet sails straight through her head.

Rachel wraps her arms around Finn as her tears seep into his shirt. He gets it; he cried too. He helped Terri move the body, helped console the woman until some guy called Dustin could be there to hold her, and then it was chaos. There was a scramble for the money she'd left behind, for authority, and no one really noticed when he walked out of the building.

"Except one guy," he whispers, and she looks up at him, slightly bewildered.

"The boss, the man who made you kidnap me... He followed you?"

He manages to make it outside. He blinks, blinks again, rubs his eyes and winces, because as dumb as it sounds, he forgot what sunshine looked like. He has to take slow, careful steps so that his leg doesn't drop off, and yeah, it's a fucking pain.

_Language._

**Sorry.**

It's a real pain. Regardless though, he manages to pull himself long enough to get out of sight of the gym, and then he's free, completely.

"You don't get to quit on me like that, F42."

A fist collides with his nose before he can even blink. There's a searing pain in his face as a worrying crack emanates the air, and he flies backwards, hitting his head on the wall of someone's house. He's big, sure, and usually he can take on anyone (not that he takes pride in that), but his leg throbs and his nose hurts and everything starts to spin around him.

He can't make out a face, but he can make out another hand as it slams into his cheek.

Pain, a lost tooth, blood and a yell and a curse and a readiness to give up. The man goes for the kill, his foot ready to kick his head in, until there's a yell and a curse that isn't Finn's, nor is the blood that splatters onto his shirt, dripping onto the sidewalk beneath him.

All he can make out is a mop of blonde hair.

"Quinn?" he breathes numbly, trying to stay awake. "Quinn?"

"Still as intelligent as ever."

Another crack, another groan that isn't his, and Finn passes out to the sight of Quinn strangling some guy to death.

He would help, you know, if he could keep his eyes open.

_Did she...?_

He wakes up when something starts tugging on his hair. He tries in vain to slap away the hand, but it's smaller, much smaller than his.

It takes him a while, but he manages to open his eyes, coming face to face with a toddler that looks just like Quinn. It's... unnerving to see the greens of her irises in the face of a little kid.

"Finally," says her nasally voice. He watches as she pulls the kid away and kisses its head. He doesn't know where they are, but it's fancy looking. The ceilings are really tall and everything looks kind of extravagant and expensive, especially the bed that he finds himself sprawled across.

He sits up and throws his fist down onto the mattress (it probably would have had more impact if it wasn't the softest thing he'd ever felt). "You _abandoned_ me," he hisses, and she doesn't say anything, only nodding. "I hate you." He lays back down to stare up at the ceiling once more; not a cobweb in sight.

"Are you done?"

"Bitch," he mutters under his breath, and he can see Quinn smirking from the corner of his eye.

"You're alive."

"No thanks to you."

"No, _thanks_ to me, actually. He was going to kill you, if you'd care to remember."

His head is fuzzy and he can't really remember what he's supposed to be, you know, remembering. His head hurts and his face feels bruised, and his leg is still throbbing like a bitch. "You, uh... murdered him?"

He looks up this time, properly, to judge her reaction. She diverts her gaze to the girl in her arms, who keeps waving around a stuffed monkey. "No, actually." She stares at him, then, and her eyes pierce his soul like they always do. "I was going to, but I didn't think you would have wanted that, not really."

"Did you call the police?"

She shifts uncomfortably in her chair. "Yes. They arrested him, and to avoid going to jail, a few of Sue's henchmen provided enough evidence for him to go away for a long time." She kisses the blonde hair of her kid. "He's not coming out anytime soon."

"What about her, Sue?"

"She's going to be buried next to her sister."

"Huh."

"Yeah."

"I guess everything worked out then."

Her daughter starts cooing to fill the awkward silence that fall upon them. "Then we all lived happily ever after."

**Glee!**

It's nearing the end of the day, just like the end of his story. She doesn't ask him where they're going when he takes her out in her dads' car (their treat, so at least it means they already trust him), and he appreciates that.

It's December, which means it's cold, but he still has a destination in mind.

She sings a little. Her cheeks pink and her eyes close, and she joins along with the radio, putting so much emotion into every word that Finn has to discreetly wipe his eyes.

She's good, dude.

It's quarter to twelve when they pull up outside McKinley high school. He can tell by the slight crease of her forehead that she doesn't know where they are, but why would she? She's from the good side of Lima.

"Come on." He helps her out of the car and straightens the woolly hat on her head. With her big coat, her thick scarf, and a light up 'Happy 18th!' badge on her chest, she's never looked more beautiful.

She slips her mittened hand into his bare one as they silently walk towards the main entrance. It's empty, obviously, and Finn pulls a set of keys from his pocket before unlocking the doors. He lets Rachel in first ("Thanks Finn, you're so chivalrous!") and follows closely behind, keeping a hand on her back the whole time.

"There's a question you've been wanting to ask for a while," he says casually, Rachel squeezing his hand in response. He breathes in, the smell of dust and books and a place he'll never forget. "I know what it is already."

"How long did it take for you to escape?"

His lips twitch with a smile. "Less than a month."

"There was a reason you didn't come back."

"Right."

"Another girl?"

He snorts as he tugs her down the hallway, passing the principal's office, an old haunt of his. "You don't believe that."

She shoots him a bashful smile as she dips her head. "I know."

"Any other guesses?"

"Superhero?"

"I wish."

"Abducted by aliens?"

"Not that I remember."

"Too frightened to show your face?"

He stops at the tinge of sadness in her voice. He's seen her vulnerable before, but not like this. She bites her lip before beaming at him, but her smile doesn't reach her eyes.

"Course not."

They reach the auditorium, and just like he'd left it, the picnic is spread across the small wooden stage, looking onto a few hundred seats.

Rachel gasps. She stands there in shock, leaving Finn to light the countless candles scattered around the room. It's a little creepier than he thought it'd be, but Rachel's eyes are even darker than the auditorium, so he figures he's done good.

He pours them both glasses (pink champagne because she can legally drink in Europe and they're celebrating after all) and they toast to being happy as they lick the bubbles from their lips and smack them together, eyes on eyes.

"I didn't come back because I came here," he starts. He runs a finger around the rim of his glass, smiling when it rings. "I wanted, still want, to graduate high school."

He feels embarrassed all of a sudden, like Rachel will look down on him for being a screw up, but she doesn't say a word, save for the single tear that runs down her nose and drips into her glass.

"I couldn't face anyone, my mom or Puck, except Mr Schue. He welcomed me back and promised to help me get back on my feet, and he's been letting me sleep on his couch." He sighs, messing up his hair as he bites his lip. "I'll have to attend summer school, but I can graduate."

There are tears in Rachel's eyes that he brushes away the pad of his thumb. "I want to make something of myself. I want to leave Ohio and be someone I can be proud of." His cheeks blush with colour as he dips his head. "I want to be someone you can be proud of."

Then silence. More silent tears stream down Rachel's face while Finn just sits and waits for some kind of reaction. It was hard enough showing up on his mom's new doorstep to tell her that he's been safe all these months, but this is even harder, somehow.

She places a hand on his chest to feel the beat of his heart against her fingertips. She smiles, angelic, lips and eyes glistening, and she sighs, her eyelashes brushing over her cheeks. "I was a spoilt, lonely little girl who had no idea how lucky I was until I was kidnapped." Finn winces harshly, but she continues regardless. "You changed me in all the ways I needed to be changed, Finn Hudson. In finding you, I found self worth, self understanding..." She takes his hands in her own, and despite how shitty he feels, his stomach does back flips when she brushes her lips over his palm. "I found love."

"I think I finally get what that Rihanna song is about," he chuckles, and when she quirks an eyebrow, he wipes at his cheeks. "Love in a hopeless place; that's gotta be a metaphor for falling in love with the girl you kidnap."

Their lips meet for a slow kiss that he savours in the very soul of his being. They're both crying, but hell, he's just emotional, alright? It doesn't make him a pansy or anything.

They have to break away for air eventually, so Finn takes that as his cue to give her his gift. It's five minutes until midnight, so he's just in time.

"Here." He lifts a small box out of the picnic basket, which has a ribbon around it (that took almost as long to tie as it took him to pick the damn thing out in the first place). "Happy birthday, Rach." She opens her mouth to protest, but he beats her to it. "Puck kept me informed, and as a thanks for telling me, I gave him Quinn's phone number. Last I heard, they're gonna try and raise Beth together."

She presses a hand over her heart, mirroring what Finn feels in his own. He doesn't like Quinn, not really, but he has a certain level of respect for her. She went to huge lengths to try and get her baby back, and that's kind of admirable; he'd do the same for Rachel, without a doubt.

As for his best friend, he's happy for him. It's weird to imagine himself with a kid, but being a father really suits Puck. He's back on the straight and narrow, a steady income and a family to look after, and he's gonna be okay.

He hands Rachel the box, which she stares at in shock.

"I would let you take all the time in the world and stuff, but you only have four minutes left of your birthday."

"Oh, right, sorry." She laughs at the goofy look on his face, and with a sucked in breath, she opens the box, peeling away the wrapping paper until she's gazing down at the heart shaped necklace that cost him a hell of a lot more than it should have. "Finn..."

"After everything that happened at the gym, Quinn got her hands on a lot of money and gave half of it to me, so don't feel guilty if-"

Her lips cut him off along with a hand that cups him through his jeans, and he blinks a few times with a gulp at the look she's giving him.

"Thank you Finn."

"I love you."

She shuffles over until she's sitting in his lap, cradled against his chest as he runs his hands up and down her back, and she hums contentedly under her breath as she whispers an "I love you too."

"The necklace is supposed to be a metaphor," he whispers into her hair. "You stole my heart from the very beginning, so you might as well keep it around your neck."

_**You are the best one of the best ones. We all look like we feel.**_

**-xox-**


End file.
